- r. A 

183 / 


Norfolk, Virginia 


Report on a Survey 

OF THE 

City Government 

Vols. I and II 


PREPARED BY 

THE BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH 

NEW YORK 

SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER, 1915 


THE H. B. VE3EY CO.. PRINTERS, NORFOLK, VA, 





















BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH, 
NEW YORK. 


December 18, 1915. 


To the Honorable, 

The Mayor and Common Council , 

Norfolk , Va. 

Sirs :— 

In accordance with your instructions we have made a 
survey of the various departments and offices of the gov¬ 
ernment of the city of Norfolk, and beg to submit here¬ 
with our report. 

Respectfully submitted, 

(Signed) F. A. CLEVELAND, 

Director. 



■t *' •-*- 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


REPORT ON A SURVEY 

OF THE 

CITY GOVERNMENT 

VOL. I 


Prepared by 

THE BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH 
" A NEW YORK 
SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER, 1915 






Gift 


, Ralph Bowman 

Oot. i&28 


(f\ 0 ^> 



<s 

o? 


Contents 


v5 

VOLUME I. 

V 

Introduction and Summary. 

Page 

Introduction . 5 

Summary of Constructive Suggestions for Securing Increased 
Economy and Efficiency . 11 

I. Suggestions which can be made effective by the common 
council and administrative officers without changing the 

charter or other statutes or the state constitution. 13 

II. Suggestions which to be made effective require changes 

in the charter or other statutes. 41 

III. Suggestions which to be made effective require changes in 

the state constitution . 54 

Text of the Report. 

The Charter . 55 

Revenue System . 65 

Budget Procedure ./ 11 

Indebtedness . 81 

Purchasing Methods . 91 

City Clerk . 95 

The Comptroller. 99 

City Collector (including delinquent tax collector) . 115 

Treasurer. 119 

Commissioner of Revenue. 125 

Land Assessors . 129 

Inspector of Licenses . 133 

Sealer of Weights and Measures. 131 

Police Department . 151 

The Police Court. 241 

Justices of the Peace. 249 

City Sergeant . 253 

High Constable. 269 

Commonwealth Attorney . 213 

Coroner . 219 

Fire Department . 283 


(For Index to Volume II, see page 321) 


































INTRODUCTION 




INTRODUCTION 


7 


INTRODUCTION 

The Bureau of Municipal Research gives consideration to three main 
factors when surveying a city government—(1) existing organization 
and methods; (2) a critical appraisal thereof, and (3) constructive sug¬ 
gestions for correcting such defects as may exist. 

In the following report on the government of the city of Norfolk 
it has been deemed unnecessary to include much descriptive matter be¬ 
cause, the report being prepared for and submitted directly to the city 
officials themselves, they may be assumed to be conversant with the 
existing organization and methods. In fact, because of the knowledge 
which they already have of “what is,” the inclusion of many pages of 
descriptive matter might tend to obscure the critical and constructive dis¬ 
cussion. Furthermore, although there was evidence on every hand of 
good work which had been done and was then being done by the city 
officials, neither time nor space has been taken in this report to eulogize 
officials or departments. Recognizing that the motive which actuated the 
city officials in having the survey made was to ascertain what defects, if 
any, still existed in the governmental structure and business methods, 
and what corrective measures should be taken for the correction thereof, 
the report has been confined to a discussion of such defects and to sug¬ 
gestions for further improving the economy and efficiency of the govern¬ 
ment. 


New Charter Needed 

As indicated in the summary of the report, a large number of bene¬ 
ficial changes can be made in the city’s business methods without any 
charter or constitutional revision. 

Throughout the report, however, mention may be noted of changes 
which are desirable in the present charter. In fact, some of the sugges¬ 
tions for improvement cannot be made effective until a new charter 
designed along proper lines is drafted and adopted. The greatest need 
of Norfolk’s government is for a better charter. 

That this report may be of greatest benefit, many suggestions will 
be found herein for use by the persons who may be assigned to draft 
a new charter. It would be impracticable in a report of this kind to 
include all of the provisions which should be incorporated in a new char¬ 
ter, but attention is directed to those features which, by reason of present 
untoward conditions, are perhaps most important. The Bureau of 
Municipal Research believes that the city of Norfolk should have a better 
charter than either of those which are offered in the general enabling 
act of the State of Virginia. In the opinion of the city attorney, the 
city in adopting a new form of government may proceed in any one of 
three ways: 

“First—^It may avail itself of the provisions of chapter 94 of 
the acts of the general assembly of 1914. 

Second—It may, as it attempted in August of 1915, proceed 
under chapter 59 of the acts of the general assembly of 1915. 
Under this section there is an initiative by the people, as pro- 


8 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


vided for in the third paragraph of section 117 of the constitu¬ 
tion, as amended. 

Third—Under the second paragraph of section 117 of the con¬ 
stitution, as amended, any special form of government—city 
manager, commission form, etc., may be passed by the general 
assembly in a general law without the request of any city, but 
before the same shall become operative, it must be adopted by a 
majority of the qualified voters at an election to be held as pre¬ 
scribed for in the act. This special form of government must 
be passed by a general act and cannot, in the opinion of lawyers 
who have studied this question, be passed in a special law appli¬ 
cable to the city of Norfolk alone.” 

The city attorney further states that it may be there are other ways 
of granting a charter to a Virginia city than those indicated above, but 
if passed so much doubt would exist that no city attorney would take 
the responsibility for expressing an opinion thereon, and that the only 
safe and sure methods are those indicated. 

It would appear that under the provisions of section 117 of the con¬ 
stitution the city might proceed to draft a charter which, in its judgment, 
was most suited for securing the best kind of government. 

Next Steps in Making Suggestions Effective 

With respect to the suggestions which, to be made effective, must 
await the preparation and adoption of a new charter, the work incident 
to the preparation of such a charter can best be done by a special com¬ 
mittee or commission created for that purpose. Attention is called to the 
need for a bureau of municipal research in Norfolk as an independent, 
unofficial citizen agency corresponding to the many similar bureaus in 
other cities. Such a local bureau in Norfolk, in addition to its other 
helpfulness, could be of material assistance to the charter-drafting com¬ 
mission, in the same way as was the Dayton Bureau in the preparation 
of the new charter for that city; the Springfield (Mass.) Bureau in the 
preparation of the proposed Springfield charter, etc. 

With respect to the changes suggested in the financial and accounting 
methods and procedures of the city, the local officials are entirely com¬ 
petent and have adequate time to make the changes themselves, except 
as relates to expense and unit cost accounts. These latter are particularly 
desirable and some outside assistance should be secured to install proper 
expense and unit cost systems in the several departments of the govern¬ 
ment. 

Outside assistance should also be secured to install an adequate sys¬ 
tem of records and reports in the police department. Such a system is 
fundamental to efficient police administration. There is at present no 
one in the department who has the time, information or experience neces¬ 
sary to make such installation. 

With respect to the health and charities functions, the city officials 
themselves can put into effect all of the recommendations of the report. 
The only outside assistance which might be desirable would be to have 


INTRODUCTION 


9 


a study made of the methods, relative efficiency, etc., of the charitable 
institutions and organizations which receive money from the city each 
year. Such a study would reveal whether the city appropriations were 
well advised. 

All the recommendations herein for changes in administrative 
methods and procedures in the fire department, water department, city 
engineer and the many other departments and offices of the city govern¬ 
ment can be made effective by the respective administrative heads them¬ 
selves without any outside assistance. 

To summarize, the only next steps which require outside assistance 

are: 

1. Drafting a new charter. 

2. Devising and installing an expense and unit cost system. 

3. Devising and installing a system of police records and 
. reports. 

4. Making a study or survey of the charitable institutions 

which receive city appropriations. 

Survey Report Should Be Published 

The cost of this survey and the efforts of the city officials, the 
Bureau of Municipal Research, and the local citizens who have interested 
themselves in the undertaking will be largely lost unless the survey report 
is made available (1) to each city official as a guide for him in correcting 
existing defects in the government, and (2) to every taxpayer as a 
means of informing him with respect to present conditions and needs 
for change. This can best be accomplished by publishing the report in 
printed pamphlet form after having first released it for publication to the 
local newspapers in installments of about one-tenth of the report to each 
issue. 
































ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY. 


11 


Summary of Constructive Suggestions For 
Securing Increased Economy 
and Efficiency. 


(Note.—The following grouping of recommendations so as to show 
those involving charter, statutory or constitutional changes separately 
from those which do not, is believed to be correct, although it may be 
held that two or three of the items should be differently grouped.) 




ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY. 


13 


I. 

SUGGESTIONS WHICH CAN BE MADE EFFECTIVE BY THE 
COMMON COUNCIL AND ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICERS 
WITHOUT CHANGING THE CHARTER OR 
OTHER STATUTES OR THE STATE 
CONSTITUTION 

Revenue System 

That all real property be assessed at its “fair market value” as 
required by the constitution, instead of only two-thirds or three- 
fourths thereof. 

Budget Procedure 

That the detailed comparative data used by the board of control 
and finance committee in determining amounts of appropriations 
be prepared by the comptroller instead of by the city clerk. 

That such data be prepared on an expense, unit cost, and revenue 
accrual basis instead of on the basis of expenditures and receipts. 

That a public hearing be held on tentative appropriations and appro¬ 
priation requests, and that adequate notice of the time and place 
of such hearing be well advertised in advance. 

That the departmental requests be printed in pamphlet form and 
made available to the public, or that one complete copy in manu¬ 
script form be placed in the office of the city clerk or comptroller 
and made available for public examination. 

That the calendar of dates incident to the adoption of annual appro¬ 
priations be revised so that estimates will be prepared and action 
taken thereon closer to the time when they become effective. 

That the form of appropriations be changed as described herein. 

That the practice of making supplemental appropriations throughout 
the year be discontinued, and that anticipatory provision be made 
in the original appropriations to cover the need for supplementing 
them. 

Indebtedness 

That so far as possible no bonds be issued for a period exceeding 
the life of the property to be acquired with the proceeds thereof. 

That when issuing bonds hereafter, provision be made for the pay¬ 
ment thereof serially from year to year instead of having them all 
fall due at one time. 

That the sinking funds which have been established for retiring 
the existing bonded debt be placed on an actuarial basis. 

That a proper system of sinking fund accounts be established and 
that a sinking fund balance sheet be produced at the close of each 
year. 

That inasmuch as Norfolk already has a high per capita debt, every 
effort be made to keep it from increasing. 


14 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Purchasing' Methods 

That all departments of the city government be included in the cen¬ 
tral purchasing plan. 

That annual supply estimates be submitted in detail by all depart¬ 
ments, that tabulations of all purchases be made, and that supply 
lists be prepared therefrom upon which quotations may be secured. 

That so far as possible all supplies be purchased in quantity and 
either delivered to the various departments as needed or stored. 

That the city determine its own standards for all staple supplies, par¬ 
ticularly for coal and fire hose. 

That physical and chemical tests be made of samples taken from 
deliveries of supplies, material, etc., to determine prior to payment 
whether such deliveries correspond with the standards on which 
the purchase orders were issued. 

City Clerk 

That the city clerk’s office serve as a bureau of information. 

That the indexing of the council proceedings be expedited to com¬ 
pletion or else abandoned. 

Comptroller 

That all departmental accounting for appropriations, bond funds 
and contracts be centralized in the comptroller’s office. 

That a comprehensive system of expense and unit cost accounts be 
established throughout the departments. 

That a central accounting and auditing control be established over 
license, permit and receipt documents. 

That all license documents be issued and collections made by a 
single office—either the city collector or the treasurer. 

That an adequate claimants’ ledger be established. 

That funds be made available to compile the necessary information 
relative to property owned by the city of Norfolk, and that such 
information be posted in an adequately designed property ledger. 

That the excellent work already done in connection with the general 
ledger and the records subsidiary thereto be continued without 
delay to its completion. 

That a better auditing control be established over tax collections 
and the penalties thereon. 

That a separate accounting and auditing control be established over 
real and personal taxes. 

That a better auditing control be established over court fines. 

That the procedure incident to the accounting and auditing control 
of miscellaneous revenues be revised as described herein. 

That the “daily report” form used by the city collector in reporting 
to the comptroller be designed so as to show (1) the number of 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY. 


15 


days and exact dates comprehended by the report, (2) a certifica¬ 
tion which will adequately fix responsibility relative to the facts 

reported, and (3) a certificate for countersignature by the treas¬ 
urer. 

That the contract procedure be readjusted so that all contracts will 
be filed in the comptroller’s office instead of the city clerk’s office. 

That the comptroller’s signature be a requisite to validation of a 
contract. This will enable him to make the necessary reservation 
of funds to cover the amount thereof. 

That when an error is discovered in a claim, an advice of the correc¬ 
tion be sent to the department where the claim originated and the 
progress of the claim expedited to payment instead of being 
returned to the department. 

That the form of “blind tally” receipt described herein be adopted 
and signed by all persons receiving deliveries. 

That an overhead inspection of deliveries of supplies, material, and 
equipment be made by the comptroller. 

That instead of bills being submitted by the dealers to the several 
departments for which supplies are purchased, each bill be sub¬ 
mitted direct to the comptroller. This change, together with the 
securing by him of receipts from delivery point and copies of 
purchase orders, will facilitate audit and expedite payment, and 
thus enable more cash discounts to be secured as well as placing 
the city on a better trading basis. 

That the procedure incident to payment of claims be revised as 
described herein. 

That postal cards be sent only to those payees who have not called 
at the city hall for their money within ten days after it has been 
ready for payment. 

That there be more and better certification of the facts on which 
claims are paid. 

That the pay days of the various departments be readjusted so that 
no payroll will need to be completed and leave a department until 
the expiration of the period covered by it. 

That there be more and better certification relative to the facts on 
which payroll payments are made. 

That an adequate system of time reports be established throughout 
the departments. 

City Collector (Including Delinquent Tax Collector) 

That a separate accounting control be established over each volume 
of the tax roll or over each ward, as well as over real and per¬ 
sonal property separately. 

That the procedure incident to the issuance of licenses be revised 
as described herein. 


16 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


That all deposits in bank by the city collector be made to the credit 
of the city treasurer. 

Treasurer 

That an endeavor be made to secure a better designed form of state 
license document. 

That the warrant register maintained by the treasurer be abandoned 
and in lieu thereof a warrant scheduling procedure adopted as 
described herein. 

That a definite rule be adopted with respect to the amount of money 
which may be placed in any one bank. 

That every effort be made to secure interest on average daily de¬ 
posits of the city’s current funds. 

Commissioner of Revenue 

That both the inspection and issuance of licenses be transferred from 
this office as described herein. 

Land Assessors 

That the methods used in making assessments be revised as described 
herein. 

That adequate maps be provided for use of the assessors. 

That all real estate be assessed at “full market value” instead of 
only two-thirds or three-fourths. 

Inspector of Licenses 

That the police force be required to perform license inspection as 
described herein. 

That a plant of index cards be established for use of the license 
inspector in administering a license control. 

That the date of expiration of various licenses be readjusted so that 
they may fall due at intervals throughout the year instead of all 
falling due May 1st, as at present. 

That penalties for delinquency in payment of licenses be enforced. 

That the ordinance providing for the licensing of automobiles be 
revised. 

Sealer of Weights and Measures 

That the salary of the city sealer be fixed at twelve hundred dollars 
per year. 

That the expenses incurred by the sealer be provided for in the 
annual budget in the same manner as are the operating expenses 
of any other city department or bureau. 

That the sealer make clear through educational campaign and prop¬ 
aganda that the “sealing” of a scale, weight or measure is no 
guarantee of the continued accuracy of it. 

That the civil service commission require applicants for appoint- 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


17 


ment as inspector of weights and measures to undergo a physical 
examination and athletic test similar to that provided for police 
and firemen. 

That an assistant sealer or inspector be appointed and that he receive 
a salary considerably less than that paid the inspector. 

That with the appointment of an assistant inspector the city be 
divided into two districts, the inspector to be in charge of one 
and his assistant in charge of the other. 

That from time to time the inspector and his assistant exchange dis¬ 
tricts and that the districts be occasionally reapportioned. 

That the office of the sealer or inspector be opened to the public dur¬ 
ing a definite period each day and that the work be arranged so 
as to permit either the inspector or his assistant to be present in the 
office during -such time. 

That the sealer or inspector devote a great deal more time to detec¬ 
tive work and sporadic inspection than he does at present. 

That council make provision for the temporary employment from 
time to time of a woman shopper to make purchases in the stores 
throughout the city for purposes of securing evidence against dis¬ 
honest merchants. 

That foodstuffs or other commodities purchased in connection with 
this work be sold to the city institutions, such as the jail or city 
home. 

That the ordinance be amended so as to grant to the sealer broad 
powers which should include the right to promulgate and enforce 
under a penalty rules and regulations governing the sale, manu¬ 
facture and use of weighing and measuring devices and the right 
to confiscate and destroy not only inaccurate and fraudulent scales, 
but also inferior and defective types. 

That the ordinances in force in the cities of New York, Los Angeles, 
Philadelphia and Chicago be used as types from which a proper 
ordinance for Norfolk may be drawn. 

That the commissioner of revenue enforce the ordinance requiring 
peddlers to cause their scales, weights and measures to be properly 
inspected and tested before a license is issued. 

That the present quarters of the sealer or inspector be renovated 
and made clean and sanitary. 

That a conspicuous sign be placed outside of this store indicating the 
hours it is open to the public, and that a similar sign be placed 
within the market. 

That the sealer’s office be equipped with a telephone. 

That the city provide and maintain the bureau with an automo¬ 
bile of the small wagon type, capable of carrying one ton of test 
weights. 


(2) 


18 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


That the sealer and his assistant be required to operate the car, thus 
making' unnecessary the employment of a chauffeur. 

That the owners of large platform scales be requested to purchase 
and maintain a set of standard test weights for the use of the 
sealer or inspector in the testing of their scales. 

That the city own and maintain at least one large wagon scale to 
be operated under the supervision of the sealer as a public scale. 

That a proper record and reporting system be established and main¬ 
tained. 

That the sealer issue annually a comprehensive report. 

That the sealer conduct a campaign of education and secure the co¬ 
operation of such civic agencies as the Housewives' League, 
women's clubs, and Merchants’ Association. 

Police Department 

That the administrative head require the chief of police to report 
daily and in writing upon a specially provided printed form the 
crime conditions of the city as indicated by the complaints received 
and the success or failure of his department in the investigation of 
crime. 

That the present daily conferences between the chief, the hoard of 
control and the mayor be discontinued. 

That the semi-annual report be replaced by monthly reports which 
will report accurately and concisely the activities of the depart¬ 
ment, in such a manner as to serve as a guide to the efficiency of 
the force and disclose the crime conditions of the city. 

That a central complaint record and filing division be established in 
the office of the central executive. 

That a definite procedure for the handling of complaints and corre¬ 
spondence through the office of the administrative head or central 
executive be adopted. 

That the rules of the department require a written report upon all 
investigation of complaints within forty-eight hours after the 
receipt of same by the officers to whom they are assigned. 

That provision be made for a proper review of these reports and the 
notification of complainants as to the results of the investigation. 

That the chief be required to devote more time to field observation. 

That the city provide and maintain an automobile for the use of the 
police department, and that the chief be required to learn to operate 
the car himself so that the detailing of a policeman or the employ¬ 
ment of a chauffeur will be made unnecessary. 

That the department abandon the practice of reporting monthly upon 
the number of arrests made by policemen, since this practice 
has long since been condemned as conducive to the making of need¬ 
less arrests and even malicious prosecution. 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


19 


That the chief install a system of precinct morning reports which 
will contain an accurate description in tabular form of the duties 
performed by the members of the force attached to the precinct, 
the complaints received, classified as to the subjects complained 
of, and the service rendered citizens by the department. 

That the hours of service of the captains be changed so as to provide 
that the captains shall remain continuously within their precincts 
except when upon regular leave, during which time one of the 
sergeants attached to the precinct shall be designated to serve as 
captain. 

That the captains be required to sleep at tbe station-houses a definite 
number of nights each month. 

That the force be under the immediate command of a captain during 
the night hours. 

That captains be required to perform definite tours of patrol in their 
precincts during each twenty-four hours and record the time of 
their visits upon the station-house desk blotter. 

That the captains be required to maintain better discipline in their 
respective commands, and that the chief insist upon the enforce¬ 
ment of the rules of the department* by them. 

That the captain of the first precinct be relieved of bis duties as 
probation officer, and that these duties be cared for by a regularly 
appointed civilian probation officer. 

That the number of sergeants be increased from twelve to nineteen, 
thus making provision for a proper supervision of the patrol force 
through the use of sergeants. 

That the rank of desk sergeants be abolished and that all sergeants 
be required to perform both desk and patrol service at intervals. 

That a straight three platoon system for sergeants be adopted, which 
will provide for the sergeants performing a definite amount of 
reserve duty and alternating with each other in patrol and desk- 
service. 

That the additional sergeants recommended be secured by promotion 
from the patrol service, and that no additional patrolmen be ap¬ 
pointed to fill their places. 

That the sergeants on the day tours be required to perform duty on 
bicycles. 

That the sergeants be required to record in their memorandum 
books the time and place they meet each patrolman of their pre¬ 
cinct on each tour of patrol, and that the patrolman be required 
to record the time and place of meeting their sergeants on patrol. 

That the chief reduce to the rank of patrolman all of the sergeants 
who are now sixty years of age or over, and that they be detailed 
to duty not requiring active service. 

That sergeants be selected by competitive, civil service, promotional 


20 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


examinations and that their service as officers be during good 
behavior. 

That all licenses be issued through the financial officers and that no 
moneys be collected for any purpose by the police department or 
its members. 

That the procedure for the issuance of licenses provide that the 
financial officers may issue licenses which are in any way afifected 
by the police department only with the approval of the chief. 

That council appoint a committee to investigate pension systems with 
a view to adopting a proper municipal pension system for the 
police and firemen. 

That the administrative head urge upon the civil service commission 
the necessity of raising the standard of educational requirements 
in entrance examinations for police service. 

That the civil service commission reassign the relative weights for 
the subjects included in the examination for original appointment. 

That a proper plan of procedure for the investigation of all appli¬ 
cants for appointment be adopted and that all investigations be 
reported upon in detail and in writing by the officers conducting 
them. » 

That in order that the department shall be protected adequately 
against physically unfit men being admitted to the force, all appli¬ 
cants be given a thorough physical examination and athletic test at 
the time of taking the mental test, at the time of original appoint¬ 
ment to the force, and at the end of a six month's probationary 
period. 

That the age requirements be changed so as to make the minimum 
age for appointment twenty-one and the Maximum thirty years 
at the time of final appointment. 

That all applicants be required to furnish proof of age, either through 
a birth or baptismal certificate or affidavits from those competent 
to state their age. 

That the civil service commission be requested to establish a pro¬ 
bationary period of six months for policemen, and that com¬ 
manding officers be required to report, in writing, upon the charac¬ 
ter of the service performed by probationary policemen. 

That all promotions be made as the result of competitive, civil sendee, 
promotional examinations and in the order upon which the names 
appear upon the civil service eligible list. 

That proper efficiency records which will truly described the charac¬ 
ter of the service rendered be installed, and that due considera¬ 
tion be given them in all promotional tests. 

That patrolmen be eligible for promotion to the rank of sergeant 
after two years of service and sergeants be eligible for promo¬ 
tion to the rank of captain after one year of service in the sergeant’s 
grade, and that captains be eligible to the rank of chief after three 
years of service as captain. 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


21 


That provision be made for the awarding of departmental recogni¬ 
tion for meritorious acts of bravery through the awarding of 
medals and the granting of special weights to the holders of them 
in promotional examinations. 

That for the consideration and investigation of all acts of bravery 
reported a board of honor be established. 

That all members of the police and fire departments be subjected 
to an annual physical examination, and that proper health records 
of the forces be maintained. 

That the surgeon be required to file a monthly report with the 
police and fire chiefs, showing the health conditions of their 
respective forces, the number of cases of illness, the causes, the 
time lost, and the names of all policemen and firemen treated 
during the month. 

That the surgeon be prohibited from having any business relations 
with members of the force or their families. 

That, at such time as the city is financially able, the cell-houses be 
reconstructed so as to provide for sanitary cell-houses and cells 
equipped with modern cell toilets, electric lights, modern cell 
bunks and running water. 

That, in the meantime, the cell-houses be thoroughly cleaned and 
the cells painted white. 

That provision be made at once for properly heating the cell rooms 
so as to make unnecessary the use of blankets. 

That the design of the shield worn by the members of the depart¬ 
ment be changed so as to provide a shield for the patrolman 
upon which the patrolman's number will be conspicuously dis¬ 
played, and a shield of an entirely different design for the use 
of the superior officers. 

That the length of service of members of the force be indicated by 
some insignia upon their uniforms. 

That members of the force be prohibited from wearing exposed em¬ 
blems of fraternal, secret, or any other organization. 

That all members of the force be required to carry the standard 
revolver prescribed by the rules. 

That a medal be awarded annually to that member of the force 
making the most practical suggestion for the improvement of 
the service. 

That the members of the force be given proper training for their 
work and that for this purpose a training school for police service 
be established. 

That patrolmen, during their probationary period, be assigned to 
work with specially selected older members of the force. 

That provision be made in the school for police service for scientific 
training for detective work. 


22 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


That each member of the force be provided with a set of printed 
instructions as to the procedure necessary in obtaining- evidence 
in homicide cases, preserving the evidence, examining prisoners 
w'hile in the custody of the police, obtaining statements from wit¬ 
nesses, recording information and statements of confession of 
prisoners apprehended in connection with a crime, etc., etc, and 
that these instructions be prepared by the commonwealth attorney. 

That the heads of the other city departments, such as the commis¬ 
sioner of health, the head of the proposed department of public 
works, etc., be required to lecture at the school for police service. 

That the health commissioner designate one of his physicians to 
serve as police and fire surgeon, and that this surgeon be required 
to render medical or surgical aid to all members of the police 
and fire forces. 

That council provide for the payment of half salary to policemen 
and firemen when absent on sick leave. 

That no member of the force be excused from duty upon sick leave 
except upon the certificate of the department surgeon. 

That provision be made for the proper inspection of revolvers at 
regular intervals. 

That revolvers be carried in the blouse instead of the hip pocket. 

That the city furnish the policemen and firemen their uniform and 
equipment without cost to the men, or, if the city is financially 
unable to do this, that provision be made for purchasing these 
uniforms at the lowest possible price and allowing the men to 
pay for them in equal monthly installments. 

That the rules require the use of a uniform rubber coat in stormy 
weather. 

That the tw r o horse-drawm patrols now in use be replaced by small 
motor-driven patrols. 

That provision be made for the purchase of an adding machine to 
be used at police headquarters in the preparation of statistical 
reports. 

That arresting officers be required to make a written statement 
in each case of the facts in connection with the arrest, which 
statement should be copied into the record of arrests. 

That more detailed information concerning the pedigrees of prisoners 
and their history be recorded. 

That the use of the slate for temporarily recording pedigrees be 
abandoned and that the rules require that the pedigrees be entered 
in the record of arrests in the presence of the prisoner, or at least 
at the same time as he is arraigned at the station-house. 

That more detailed records be maintained in intoxication cases. 

That council, the chief of police, the police court justice, and a 
representative of the justices of the peace confer for the purpose 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


23 ' 

of deciding upon a plan which will tend to reduce the number 
of needless and unjustified arrests upon warrants. 

That in recording and reporting upon arrests, arrests made Upon 
warrants be tabulated separately from those made without war¬ 
rants, so that the administrative head and the public may have 
statistics available as to arrests. 

That the board of control or administrative head issue an order 
to the police department requiring that all warrants for violation 
of city ordinances be secured from the police court judge and 
not from the justices of the peace, thereby saving to the city 
the fees which are now paid to the justices. 

That the fourth precinct be abolished, and that the territory included 
within this precinct be made a part of the second precinct. 

That two police patrol booths be erected and equipped with tele¬ 
phones in the section now known as the fourth precinct, and that 
motorcycle or bicycle patrolmen be detailed to these booths. 

That the detail of a policeman to the cemetery be discontinued. 

That the detail of a policeman as vacant-house officer be discontinued, 
and that this duty be performed by the patrol force and sergeants. 

That the detail of a sergeant to the mayor’s office and the police 
court be discontinued. 

That no additional patrolmen be appointed at this time. 

That provision be made for the appointment of at least one police 
woman. 

That the patrolman now performing clerical service in the office 
of the chief be remanded to patrol and a civilian clerk employed 
in his place. 

That provision be made for using additional motorcycle policemen, 
so that there will be available at all hours at least two motorcycle 
policemen to answer emergency calls. 

That a study of the patrol posts be made and in this connection 
a police census of every block in the city taken. 

That as a result of this study, the patrol posts be reapportioned 
and the present circular posts be abandoned and the avenue and 
side-street posts be established in their place. 

That the present system of sergeants blowing their whistles to 
summon patrolmen as a means of checking patrol be abandoned, 
and that the sergeants be required properly to patrol the posts 
until they locate the patrolmen without the aid of a signal. 

That each precinct be provided with a map showing the location 
of the patrol posts of the precinct. 

That provision be made for installing an inexpensive flashlight 
system for summoning policemen. 

That a platoon system, which will provide for an adequate reserve 


24 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


force at all rimes and an equal number of hours without the 
varying numbers of hours off duty allowed at present, be adopted. 

That pending the adoption of a new platoon system, the chief 
cause a reserve force to be established by requiring not less 
than six patrolmen to sleep at the central station each night, 
each member of the force to be required to take his turn in serving 
on this reserve. 

That a printing bureau be established. 

That special policemen, before appointment, be required to file 
a bond in an amount not less than two thousand dollars, and that 
they be required to wear a uniform prescribed by the department, 
unless given special permission by the chief of police. 

That an improved procedure for reporting and recording conditions 
observed on patrol posts be adopted. 

That the policemen be used to deliver communications between city 
and taxpayer. 

That provision be made at once for the training of the traffic officers, 
and that for this purpose a sergeant be permitted to visit New 
York or Philadelphia and there study the most approved prac¬ 
tices in the regulation of traffic. 

That the assignments to traffic duty be made permanent, and that 
the present plan of relieving traffic men at various intervals during 
the day be abolished. 

That the department experiment with the use of traffic semaphores, 
such as are now being used in New York and Philadelphia. 

That additional traffic posts be created at such times as policemen 
are available. 

That the head of the detective bureau, regardless of the grade from 
which he may be selected, be given the rank and salary of 
captain. 

That provision be made for the proper training of the detectives. 

That the hours of service of the detectives be rearranged so as 
to provide for adequate detective service at all hours—not less 
than three detectives on duty between 8 P. M. and 12 mid¬ 
night, and not less than two detectives from midnight until early 
morning. 

That the night detectives be on patrol and not stationed at police 
headquarters as at present. They should be required to keep 
in touch with the central station by telephone to provide for 
emergency calls. 

That the number of detectives on duty be equal on all days of the 
week. 

That a definite procedure with regard to the assignment of de¬ 
detectives to cases and the matter of referring cases to the de¬ 
tective bureau from the precincts be adopted. This procedure 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


25 


should prevent the detectives being used in the investigation of 
trivial complaints. 

That the practice of employing detectives against gambling and 
prostitution be abandoned. 

That the procedure for checking pawnshop lists be improved and 
that the Boston system be adopted. 

That pawnshops be equipped with a buzzer connected with police 
headquarters. 

That a more complete system of records and reports and an im¬ 
proved procedure for the handling of same in the detective bureau 
be adopted. 

That the Bertillon operator be permitted to visit the New York 
police department and there study the methods of taking, photo¬ 
graphing and recording fingerprints and, upon his return, that 
the fingerprint system be installed. 

That the photographs in the rogues’ gallery be classified, first as 
to types of criminals, second, subclassified as to facial charac¬ 
teristics. 

That the officials of the city of Norfolk take steps to suppress 
commercialized prostitution through a vigorous campaign against 
disorderly houses and the houses of assignation. 

That a declaration of the policy of suppression precede the cam¬ 
paign, and that the owners and inmates of these houses be given 
ample opportunity to leave the city. 

That a definite procedure for the investigation of vice complaints 
be adopted, and that the suppression of vice be under the imme¬ 
diate supervision of the central executive. 

That the system of records and reports of the police department 
be revised so as to provide for a record and reporting system 
which will keep the administrative heads currently advised of 
the crime conditions of the city and the efficiency of the police 
department in coping with them and which will truly record in a 
reviewable manner the operations of the force. 

That the department issue a comprehensive annual report in ac¬ 
cordance with the recommendations contained in this report. 

Police Court and Justices of the Peace 

That the clerk of the court qualify as a stenographer. 

That the judge require the clerk to report hearings and examinations 
in stenography in cases which are to be held for the grand jury, 
and that the testimony be transcribed, and a copy furnished the 
commonwealth attorney. 

That a detention home for children be established at once. 

That the detention home be equipped with a suitable room for 
the use of the judge in the investigation of juvenile delinquency 
cases. 


26 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


That no separate juvenile court be established, but that the judge 
of the juvenile court continue as at present to investigate all 
juvenile delinquency cases and dispose of the same. 

That all children brought to the attention of the judge be given 
a thorough physical examination. 

That the practice of committing children to the city jail be dis¬ 
continued at once. 

That, pending the establishment of a detention home for children, 
provision be made in the matron's quarters at the police station 
for the care of all children. 

That the practice of ordering children to be beaten by their parents 
be discontinued. 

That the judge hear all cases in which children are involved in 
his private chambers, and that all persons not concerned in the 
specific case under investigation be excluded therefrom. 

That, as a convenience to the parents of children and agencies 
interested in the child, all investigations and hearings be held 
in the evening. 

That the domestic relations cases be heard apart from the sessions 
of the children’s court. 

That two probation officers be appointed by the central executive 
on the ratings obtained in a competitive civil service examination. 

That the probation officers be required to maintain complete and 
detailed records of their cases and of the work they perform. 

That the police court hold sessions on Sunday mornings and on 
the mornings of holidays. 

City Sergeant 

That a cell block for women prisoners be constructed. 

That this section of the prison be arranged so as to afford complete 
separation of the sexes and provision for the segregation of the 
different types of prisoners. 

That the female prisoners be under the care of a matron at all 
hours. 

That no children be confined in the jail. 

That the warden of the jail be required to segregate different classes 
of prisoners in so far as the present construction of the jail will 
permit. 

That provision be made for the employment of sufficient keepers 
working on eight hour shifts to maintain proper discipline within 
the jail. 

That when the jail is legally constituted the city prison keepers 
be selected as the result of competitive civil service examination; 
pending this change the additional keepers necessary should be 
paid out of the fees collected by the city sergeant. 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


27 


That not less than two keepers be on duty at night so as to afford 
adequate protection against jail delivery or fire. 

That an electric buzzer be installed in police headquarters and 
controlled from the jail for the purpose of summoning help 
promptly in emergencies. 

That the jail be equipped with a watchman’s detector clock system 
and that the night watchmen be required to record on these clocks 
their visits to the various parts of the building. 

That the rules require the watchmen to make a definite number of 
tours of inspection to the jail during the night. 

That the jail be equipped with machinery sufficient to provide for 
the prisoners doing the laundry work for the jail, the police 
and fire departments and the City Home. 

That a bake shop be installed to supply bread for the jail and the 
City Home. 

That provision be made for employing prisoners in industries which 
do not require much technical training; in this connection it is 
suggested that machine industries be employed. 

That the prison may he kept habitable and clean 

a—All prisoners upon admission should be bathed, 
their clothing removed and fumigated. 

b—The prisoners should be given and required to 
wear prison clothing. 

It is neither suggested nor recommended that 
this prison clothing take the form of a striped 
suit or clothing of a degrading character, but 
that it be merely clean and comfortable. 

c—The prisoners should not be permitted to retain in 
their cells any food stuffs, whether it is prison 
fare or privately purchased food. 

d—The cells should be thoroughly scoured with hot 
water and soap, and, for the extermination of 
roaches and vermin, the runways and crevices 
should be frequently dusted with commercial 
sodium fluoride mixed with equal parts of flour. 

e—The mattresses should be re-covered and each 
should have a second removable ticking which 
should be removed and cleaned weekly. 

f—The mattress covering should be changed with 
every change in the occupancy of the cell. 

or—There should be a daily inspection of the cells by 
the warden, an inspection which should be 
made in the presence of the prisoners occupying 
the cells. 

h—Prisoners responsible for uncleanliness should be 
disciplined. 


28 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


That a greater variety and better quality of food be provided. 

That the prisoners be fed three times a day. 

That the meals be served in a mess hall instead of in their cells. 

That the food be served with greater care and cleanliness. 

That all prisoners except those awaiting trial be prohibited from 
having food brought in from the outside. 

That the medical needs of the jail be attended to by physicians at¬ 
tached to the health department. 

That no prisoner be assigned to a cell upon admission until he has 
been given a physical examiation by the jail physician. 

That the practice of committing homeless, sick persons to the jail 
be discontinued. 

That the jail physicians be required to maintain proper records and 
to make a monthly report to the central executive. 

That no prisoners be permitted to retain their personal property 
such as jewelry, money, etc., but that such property be cared for 
by the warden. 

That the two dungeon cells be removed and ordinary cells be used 
for solitarv confinement. 

J 

That no prisoners be placed in solitary confinement except upon 
the written order of the warden and that proper detailed records 
be maintained of such cases. 

That the use of candles in the cells be prohibited and that all cells 
be equipped with properly protected electric lights. 

That a proper accounting and record system be installed. 

That the records include a fingerprint record of all prisoners. 

Commonwealth Attorney 

That an assistant commonwealth attorney be appointed to serve 
as a police court prosecutor and to assist generally in the prep¬ 
aration of cases for trial. 

That the commonwealth attorney or his assistant be notified promptly 
of all murders reported, and that he or his assistant go directly 
with the police to the scene of the murder, and assist and advise 
in the investigation and collection of evidence. 

That the office of the commonwealth attorney be maintained at 
the public expense and equipped by the city, and the attorney 
not required to use his private office for public business. 

Fire Department 

That the administrative head require the chief of the fire depart¬ 
ment to report daily and in writing upon specially provided 
printed forms the operations of his department. 

That the present daily conference between the chief, the board 
of control and the mayor be discontinued. 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


29 


That all purchases be made as the result of competitive bidding 
upon standard specifications in accordance with the recommenda¬ 
tions contained in that part of this report relating to purchasing 
methods. 

That the assistant chiefs be required to maintain proper records 
concerning the personnel of their districts and the work per¬ 
formed. 

That the assistant chiefs be required to keep detailed and complete 
descriptions of all buildings within their districts. 

That captains be required to lecture to the firemen of their com¬ 
panies upon important risks and hazards, and the duties of 
firemen. 

That the engineers be selected from the uniformed force as the 
result of a competitive civil service promotional test after having- 
served as assistant engineers or stokers. 

That engineers be eligible to promotion within the service. 

That all firemen receive instructions in the operation and care of 
engines. 

That the salary of assistant engineers be slightly in advance of 
the salary paid firemen, while the salary of the engineeers be the 
same as that paid lieutenants. 

That the recommendations affecting the appointment, probation 
and promotion of policemen, as outlined in that section of this 
report relating to police, be adopted in connection with the ap¬ 
pointment, probation and promotion of firemen. 

That in connection with the training of firemen, the instruction 
at the school be revised so as to include lectures in addition 
to the practical instruction given—the lectures to cover all phases 
of the fire prevention and fire extinguishment service. 

That during inclement weather lectures and instructions be given 
at the company quarters by the lieutenant in charge of the 
school. 

That text-books be furnished the firemen and written tests held 
from time to time. 

That the firemen be reassigned periodically in order that all of 
them may perform service in all divisions and under all com¬ 
manding officers. 

That the rules require captains’ to conduct setting-up exercises 
similar to those used in the United States army at the company 
quarters each morning. 

That proper efficiency records be installed and maintained. 

That distinguished acts of bravery be awarded departmental rec¬ 
ognition and that honor medals be provided. 

That provision be made for furnishing adequate toilet facilities 
at the fire stations. 


30 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


That the recommendations affecting the medical care of policemen, 
as outlined in that section of this report relating to police, be 
adopted for use in the fire department. 

That the old-fashioned chemical apparatus now in use be replaced 
with modern motor-propelled combination chemical and hose 
wagons. 

That the equipment of the company located at Berkley include a 
well-equipped motor-driven truck. 

That all of the horse-drawn apparatus be gradually replaced by 
motor-driven apparatus. 

That the city purchase and maintain a small steel fireboat, equipped 
with gasoline engines with a pumping capacity of not less than 
7,000 gallons. 

That 1,000 feet of three-inch hose be carried on the fireboat. 

That this boat be used for all alarms on the streets along the 
water front as well as for river fires. 

That the forms of records maintained by the master mechanic be 
improved and a unit cost record installed. 

That hose towers be erected at engine companies Nos. 1 and 5. 

That proper records be maintained of the hose. 

That council adopt ordinances establishing “fire streets" at which 
all street cars should be required to stop without signals. 

That an effort be made to have the street car companies install a signal 
service which will include red lights, power cut-offs and gongs, 
operating with the fire alarm system. 

That the administrative head require the police department to keep 
all fire hydrants free of obstruction at all times. 

That the administrative head require the chief of police to dispatch 
a patrol wagon and such patrolmen as may be available at head- 
quarters upon every alarm of fire in the congested value district 
and upon every second alarm in the city. 

That fire gongs be installed at police headquarters, the pumping 
station and the central office of the water company. 

That the administrative head direct the chief of police to investigate 
false alarms. 

That uniformed firemen be used to make fire prevention inspections. 

That all buildings, regardless of the type or use to which they are 
put, be subject to inspection. 

That all inspections be reported upon special inspection forms. 

That council adopt an ordinance requiring theaters to pay for the 
services of firemen assigned to them during performances. 

That the firemen be required to carry electric torches or lanterns 
when on duty at theaters. 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


31 


1 hat the firemen detailed to theaters be required to make a thorough 
inspection of the house, the exits and auxiliary apparatus before 
the performance starts. 

That moving-picture operators be given a practical test before being 
licensed and that their licenses contain their photographs. 

That all orders issued in connection with fire prevention inspection 
be made the subject of a report. 

That the information contained upon the reports of the fire pre¬ 
vention inspections be used by the captains in instructing the 
firemen. 

I hat the records of reports of the department be improved and that 
the records recommended in this report be established. 

That no additional clerical help be retained. 

That the department prepare and issue an annual report which 
will be of statistical value and a guide to the administrative head 
and council in matters affecting the department. 

Department of Health 

That the superintendent of the proposed bureau of health be required 
to devote full time to his duties at a salary not to exceed $3,500 
a year. 

That the sole qualifications for the position of superintendent of 
the proposed bureau of health be experience and abilitv in public 
health work, regardless of residence or medical training. 

That the present practice of appointing aged and physically incom¬ 
petent inspectors to the health department be discontinued and 
that appointments be made upon the basis of a competitive exami¬ 
nation, civil service or otherwise. 

That an effort be made to increase and improve birth registration 
by: the enforcement of the law, the issuance of a certificate of 
birth to the parents of each child whose birth is reported, the 
publication of birth notices in the daily papers, the systematic 
checking of the reports of deaths of children under two years 
against the birth register, the routine examinations of the records 
of baptism in the various churches, and the education of the 
public in the importance of adequate birth registration. 

That more earnest efforts be made to secure better records of deaths 
by requiring physicians to certify the causes of deaths according 
to the method approved by the United States Bureau of Census. 

That a registrar of vital statistics be emloyed at a salary not to 
exceed $780, who may have complete supervision of the registra¬ 
tion, compilation and tabulation of births and deaths. 

That a complete list of diseases for which reports from physicians 
are desired be prepared and printed upon the notification cards 
which are distributed to physicians for their use in reporting 
diseases. This list should include malaria, puerperal septicemia, 


32 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


hookworm disease, dysentery, tetanus and certain other diseases 
which are not now specified as notifiable. 

That more careful investigation be made of typhoid cases reported 
to the department, special attention being given to the patients’ 
sources of milk supply, and that a more detailed record be kep^ 
of such cases. 

That each case of typhoid fever reported be charged against the 
dairy from which the patient received milk on a chart especially 
provided for this purpose in order that the health officer may 
see at a glance the relation of typhoid cases to milk supply. 

That efforts be made to secure more adequate registration of tuber¬ 
culosis and that a tuberculosis nurse be emloyed at a salary of 
not less than $780 a year to assist in securing better registration 
and control through home visits to patients. 

That for the purpose of preventing ophthalmia neonatorum, a dis¬ 
ease causing blindness in new-born babies, physicians and mid¬ 
wives be required to state upon birth certificates what precautions 
have been taken against the disease. The routine procedure of 
treating the eyes of new-born babies with silver nitrate should 
be insisted upon and the bureau of health should furnish silver 
nitrate outfits free of charge to physicians and midwives. 

That the routine fumigation of rooms following contagious diseases 
be discontinued. If fumigation is desired in special cases, it should 
be furnished for a fee sufficient to cover the cost of the fumiga¬ 
tion. (Routine fumigation following contagious diseases has been 
discontinued in Providence, R. I., New York City, Milwaukee, 
Rochester, N. Y., and other cities.) 

That a contagious disease nurse be employed at a salary of not 
less than $780 a year who may assist in the prevention and 
control of contagious diseases by visiting the homes of patients 
and instructing them in the proper methods of care of the patient 
and prevention of contagion. 

That an effort be made to secure through physicians registration 
of occupational diseases, in order that the efforts of the bureau 
of health may be directed toward the remedying of industrial 
conditions responsible for such diseases. 

That the ordinance relative to the muzzling of dogs be enforced 
for the prevention of rabies and that provision be made whereby 
animals suspected of rabies may be held under observation. 

That more complete records of contagious diseases be kept bv the 
installation of a daily register of contagious diseases which will 
give all the facts regarding each case. 

That the quarantine commissioner be discontinued and that those 
functions of quarantine which are not in the hands of the federal 
authorities be delegated to the local health authorities. 

That all school health work be placed under the control of the 
bureau of health. 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


33 


That in place of the five physicians now employed by the school 
board (one at $50 a month and four at $10 a month for ten months 
service) two physicians at $1,200 a year be employed. This would 
give the health bureau a staff of five city physicians to do not 
only the school work but also furnish such attendance of sick 
poor as might be required. The five school nurses should be 
continued in their present duties and in addition should be re¬ 
quired to render such service as might be desirable in the effort 
to prevent infant mortality. 

That effort be made to secure through registration and supervision 
by nurse inspectors better control of midwives and their practice. 
There is need for the enactment of a law requiring definite edu¬ 
cational and experience qualifications for midwives. 

That infant welfare stations be established in school buildings in 
those sections of the community where infant mortality is high¬ 
est. Fora city of the size of Norfolk four such stations should 
be established. 

That a free dental clinic be established for the treatment of school 
children who are unable to pay for such service. 

That effort be made to organize school children for the promotion 
of school and public health. This may be done through organiza¬ 
tion of Little Mothers Leagues among the girls, sanitary squads 
among boys, etc. 

That one apothecary at the city dispensary be discontinued and that 
in his place a physician be employed on full time at a salary of 
$1,800 a year. 

That the present method of filling prescriptions from private physi¬ 
cians at the city dispensary be discontinued. Physicians who 
wish their patients treated by the city should send them to the 
dispensary where they may be examined by the dispensary and 
such prescriptions as may be necessary furnished by the city 
physician and filled by the apothecary. 

That a standard formulary be prepared of certain stock prescrip¬ 
tions and drugs which may be furnished patients, just as is done 
in any well-regulated hospital or dispensary. 

That the city dispensary be completely renovated and put in a 
proper condition of cleanliness and order and that sufficient sur¬ 
gical equipment and facilities be installed there for the use of the 
dispensary physician. 

That all emergency medical or surgical cases received by the police 
be taken to the city dispensary immediately in the police ambu¬ 
lance, and that such dressing or other aid as may be necessary be 
furnished by the dispensary physician. If hospital care is needed 
the dispensary physician should authorize the police to transport 
the patient to the hospital. In cases where immediate hospital 
treatment is obviously necessary, the patient should be taken to 
the hospital without being taken to the dispensary. 


(3) 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


That the duties of the physician to the City Home with reference 
to cases coining under the supervision of the police be limited 
to the attendance of surgical cases after their removal to the 
hospital. 

That more comprehensive milk standards be adopted and that milk 
be graded according to the conditions under which it is pro¬ 
duced, handled and sold and the bacteria count of the milk as 
evidenced by laboratory test. 

That retail milk stores be regularly inspected and scored. 

'That daily scores and bacteria counts be regularly published in the 
daily papers and in the bulletins of the health bureau in order 
that citizens may be informed regarding the quality of the milk 
which they purchase. 

That an additional food inspector be employed to assist the present 
inspector in a more thorough supervision of the methods of pro¬ 
duction, handling and sale of food products. 

That all food stores be classified, scored and graded according to 
the sanitary conditions found and that inspection be directed 
chiefly toward those stores which grade low as regards sanitation. 

That an adequate record-keeping system be provided for recording 
the results of the inspection of food stores. 

That the deputy superintendent of health act as chief sanitary 
inspector in direct charge of all lay sanitary inspectors. 

That an improved method of handling complaints be provided so 
that there will be a daily record of each complaint, the result 
of inspection and the final action of the department. 

That the practice of allowing sanitary inspectors to send out notice^ 
be discontinued. These notices should be sent out only by tut 
chief sanitary inspector. 

That inspectors be sent out into the field upon a definite written 
assignment and that they submit daily reports of time spent on 
duty and the findings upon their inspection. For this purpose 
an assignment slip and a daily time record card are recommended. 

That a daily progress map be kept of the house-to-house inspection 
work of the inspectors. 

That policemen be thoroughly instructed in the ordinances, rules 
and regulations of the health authorities and that they be re¬ 
quired to make daily reports to the health authorities upon special 
forms provided for the purpose. 

That the city physician now detailed to laboratory service be relieved 
from all other duties and required to devote all the time which 

' he gives to city service to the laboratory work. 

That the buildings at Craney Island used by the health authorities 
be thoroughly cleaned and put in a proper condition of repair 
and that all beds, mattresses, dishes and other equipment not in 
use be properly cleansed and stored until needed. 



ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


35 


That a complete system of hospital records be begun at the deten¬ 
tion hospital, including a record of physical examination on ad¬ 
mission and a record of subsequent care and treatment. 

That the monthly bulletin of the department be made a medium 
for the information of the public rather than a report of the 
routine inspection and other service performed. 

That a complete sanitary code and all the rules and regulations 
of the health bureau be prepared and printed and given a wide 
distribution among city employees and citizens in general. 

That an annual report be prepared setting forth each year the ac¬ 
complishments and aims of the health bureau. The annual report 
should be made a medium of information to the public rather 
than a mere statistical summary for the use of city officials. 

That an occasional health exhibit be held by the bureau of health 
for the purpose of informing and educating the public in health 
procedure and methods of preventive health service. 

City Veterinarian 

That the functions of the city veterinarian be placed under the 
control of the proposed bureau of health in order/ that this 
work may be properly correlated with other health activities. 

That the present ordinance relative to the work of the city veteri¬ 
narian be revised so that no meat shall be distributed by sale 
or otherwise in Norfolk which has not been inspected and passed 
by the health bureau’s inspectors. 

That an inspection office for the veterinarian meat inspector be 
established at some convenient place in the center of the city 
and that all animals slaughtered for food purposes, outside of the 
regularly inspected slaughter-houses, be brought to this office for 
inspection. This would provide a means for the inspection of 
animals slaughtered on farms—the inspection of such slaughtered 
animals being practically negligible at the present time. 

That an assistant to the veterinarian meat inspector be appointed at 
a salary of not more than $1,200 a year. 

That meat inspection include ‘the inspection of all animals slaugh¬ 
tered for food purposes. At present only beef is inspected. 

That following the revision of the inspection ordinance a definite 
set of rules and regulations regarding sanitation of slaughter¬ 
houses be established by the health bureau and these regulations 
enforced in the two slaughter-houses now under inspection. 

That improved methods of record-keeping be adopted by the veteri¬ 
narian meat inspector based upon the records of meat inspection 
required by the United States Bureau of Animal Industry in 
slaughter-houses under its supervision. 

City Home 

That the physician to the City Home be placed under the supervision 


36 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


of the bureau of health with the title of city physician and that 
his work be confined to t.be care of inmates of the City Home 
and attendance upon the city’s surgical cases at the city hospitals. 

That there be installed at once a complete system of medical records 
which will show the treatment given inmates and patients and 
the results of such treatment. 

That the physician to the City Home be required to keep a record 
of his visits to the Home which will show the time of arrival 
and the time of departure. 

That all inmates of the Home be given a thorough physical examina¬ 
tion on admission in order that a classification of inmates accord¬ 
ing to their ability to work may be made. 

That the mentally defective inmates of the City Home be examined, 
classified and segregated according to the indications met on such 
examination. 

City Market 

That the sanitary facilities of the market be improved by remodeling 
market quarters where necessary and the installation of uniform 
type of equipment, cold storage facilities, etc. 

That space on the curb market be confined to the curb and definitely 
marked ofif by whitewashed lines or other means and that dealers 
be required to keep tbeir stands and equipment within this area. 

That covered refuse cans be provided throughout the market and 
all dealers be required to place refuse material in these cans instead 
of throwing it into the street. 

That all articles of food which may be contaminated by street filth 
and by dogs be kept uoon benches or stands at least 24 inches 
above the street level. 

That definite rules and regulations for the sanitation of the maret 
and the handling of food products be drawn up and enforced. 

These regulations should be printed on large cards and conspicu¬ 
ously posted throughout the market. 

Public Works Functions 
(Proposed Department of Public Works) 

That regular department and bureau conferences be conducted. 

That records of employees’ service be maintained. 

That uniforms and badges be required for proper identification of 
field employees. 

That the preparation of annual reports be required and their publi¬ 
cation facilitated so that they may be of current value. 

That permits be simplified, standardized and controlled as financial 
stationery. 

That adequate cost and expense records be devised and installed. 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


37 


That field reporting forms be standardized and completed. 

That payrolls and work reports be divorced and payroll preparation 
be centralized for all public works functions. 

That cost and expense recapitulations be placed periodically in the 
hands of interested officers. 

That a central storeyard be provided to replace the three now used. 

That a central stable be provided. 

That the division of design and survey be made a clearing-house 
for engineering service for the city as a whole. 

That engineering records and information be centralized for general 
use. 

That record maps be completed as rapidly as possible. 

That a co-operative study be undertaken for a city plan. 

That the cost of engineering service be charged against the depart¬ 
ment or bureau receiving it. 

That the furnishing of private survey service be continued at rates 
which will guarantee recovery of the entire cost of the work. 

That standard specifications be developed for general use through 
the co-operation of local officials and the close observation of 
standards developed by qualified associations elsewhere. 

That the service of the testing laboratory be extended. 

That the inspection forces be centralized except where continuously 
required on routine work of a single bureau. 

That the office of inspector of streets be abolished and its various 
duties transferred to the police department, the department of 
street cleaning, the city engineer’s office, and the park department. 

That a commission be appointed to study, with the assistance of 
an expert and other agencies, the street lighting situation in 
Norfolk and to prepare a tentative contract for future use. 

That ornamental lighting and street signs be considered together. 

That a special attempt be made to maintain a standard of arrange¬ 
ment and equipment for street lighting through co-operation with 
private parties paying for special lighting. 

That a comprehensive plan for future street lighting be developed. 

That outage reports be rendered by the police department daily 
directly to the officer in charge of lighting. 

That inspections and tests be conducted regularly to ascertain the 
quality of lighting service received. 

That the next lighting contract contain separate provisions regard¬ 
ing the prices to be paid for the installation of equipment, the 
maintenance of equipment, and the current. 

That a gas franchise monopoly be granted on a profit-sharing basis. 


38 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


That fire alarm boxes be equipped with red lights. 

That the water department pumping station and office be equipped 
with a fire alarm joker gong. 

That a less complicated police signal system be adopted. 

That the telephone equipment of the police department be improved. 

That a central city shop and garage be established and all repair 
forces centralized. 

Highways and Sewers 

(Proposed Bureau of Highways and Sewers) 

That the thickness of concrete bases under pavements be increased. 

That the maintenance of unpaved streets be given more attention. 

That asphalt paving be preferred unless it developes that better re¬ 
sults can be secured from some other type of pavement. 

That the records of local experience be made readily available for 
administrative use. 

That a paving program be developed to meet the needs of the city 
and publicity be given to it. 

That a definite classification of pavements and roadway improve¬ 
ments be established and class definitions be included in standard 
specifications. 

That experimentation with new type of pavements be limited. 

That the specification of “bithulithic” be employed only in connec¬ 
tion with alternative specifications for other types producing simi¬ 
lar results. 

That bitumious macadam and modern close-joint granite block on a 
concrete foundation receive special consideration in any future 
program for construction. 

That the use of toothing stones or runners be discontinued. 

That a special inspection of the railway area be made periodically. 

That a provision for future expansion in street widths be made by 
adopting a policy of elastic street design. 

That curbs with longer radius be used. 

That gutters, gutter crossings and catch-basins be designed to assist 
traffic and street cleaning. 

That special attention be given to street sign and pole locations in 
connection with street design. 

That a new and improved asphalt plant be purchased and located 
near the central shops or stable. 

That especially careful record be kept of the results of the use of 
rejuvenated asphalt. 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


& '■ 


That the highway construction and maintenance records he improved 
and completed. 

That block and intersection records be installed. 

That a special inspection of the condition of all streets and side¬ 
walks be made at least once a year to supplement the work of 
the police. 

That sewer records be made less cumbersome. 

That construction of sewers by city forces be continued when 
economy warrants it, but that complete cost records be kept and 
reported. 

That special emergency equipment for sewer repair be kept ready 
for service at a central point. ' ■■ 

That records of sewage pumping and of the efficiency of the pump¬ 
ing stations and their employees be kept. 

That consideration be given to the possible combination of the main 
sewage pumping plant with refuse incineration and a central heat¬ 
ing plant. 

That careful tests of foundations be made prior to all bridge con¬ 
struction. 

Building Inspection 

(Proposed Bureau of Buildings) 

That a building code be adopted, but that the proposed code now 
pending be thoroughly examined and revised before its adoption. 

That a small automobile be purchased for the use of the building 
inspector. 

That as many additional inspectors be employed as will be required 
to make a thorough inspection of superstructures of buildings as 
well as of foundations. 

That records of inspections be completely filled out. 

That the use of the “National Electrical Code” be continued. 

That charges be made for plumbing inspection so as to place the entire 
cost on the individual who has the inspection made. 

That requests for plumbing inspection be made in writing. 

That the care of public buildings be placed under the direction of 
the bureau of buildings. 

Water Supply 

(Proposed Bureau of Water) 

That responsibility for administration of the water works be cen¬ 
tralized. 

That the technical direction of the water works be centered in one 
man. 

That the immediate control over the assessment of water revenue 


40 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


be exercised by a revenue accounting officer responsible to an 
officer independent of the technical manager. 

That the collection of water revenue be transferred to the office 
of the city treasurer. 

That complaints be classified and reported to the head of the bureau 
of water. 

That the services of the engineering division be utilized as far as 
possible and the employment of temporary draftsmen or surveyors 
discontinued. 

That a complete book of rules, regulations and rates be published 
and distributed. 

That an annual report covering all water works operations be pre¬ 
pared. 

That a program for future action on the water works situations as 
a whole be definitely drawn up at once to provide for the estimated 
needs of the city for fifty years, construction to be undertaken 
immediately to provide for the needs of the next ten or fifteen 
years. 

That accurate and definite information be secured immediately rela¬ 
tive to the possibilities of metropolitan water supply development 
in conjunction with Portsmouth. 

That a commission be appointed to decide upon a program for the 
water works development and that it be supplied with expert 
technical advisers and instructed to bring back to the council a 
single plan for immediate action. 

That a valuation of the physical plant of the city water works be 
made at once as a basis for decisions on future financial policy. 

That the engineer in charge centralize the control over the organiza¬ 
tion at the city office by requiring all field or operating reports 
to be sent there promptly. 

That a duplicate and improved telephone system be installed for the 
pumping plant. 

That the automobile service be brought up to an efficient standard. 

That the clerical assistance of the central office be increased. 

That the dams and storage works be repaired or rebuilt to conserve 
the available supply of water and avoid further danger of losing 
the supply. 

That the water shed inspection forces be centralized. 

That a competent chemist be at least temporarily placed in charge 
of the filter plant operation. 

That the filter reports be remodeled and standardized. 

That the clear water basin be repaired temporarily and as soon as 
possible either reconstructed or permanently repaired. 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


41 


That coal handling and storage facilities be improved if the present 
pumping station is continued in use. 

That duplicate steam lines to every important pump be installed. 

That the practice of pumping without a reserve be made unnecessary. 

That pumping pressure be raised upon alarm of fire. 

That comparative efficiency records of pumping station employees 
be maintained. 

That pumping records be improved and completed. 

That additional valves be placed on the force mains. 

That city forces be used in making pipe extensions whenever war¬ 
ranted. 

That pipe and materials be furnished by the city to contractors on 
new construction. 

That Class “A” pipe be used in place of Class “B.” 

That services always be installed before permanent pavement is laid 
in all fast-growing sections of the city. 

That pipe system records be completed. 

That valuable records be protected. 

That a valve location book for field use be prepared. 

That mains be strengthened or cleaned where necessary. 

That provision be made for future increase in water pressure. 

That meters be removed and tested regularly. 

That fountains and horse troughs be metered. 

That a light automobile truck be provided for repair forces. 

That police co-operation be improved and facilitated. 

That a telephone be installed in the teamster’s house. 

That all inspection forces be placed under the control of the water 
revenue division. 

That inspection methods be revised and the inspection records im¬ 
proved. 

That large meters be read monthly. 

That hydrants be regularly inspected and oiled by the water bureau, 
especially after fires, and that no one use them without a permit 
from the water department. 

That valves be regularly inspected and a record kept of their con¬ 
dition. 

That a “readiness to serve” charge be added to the water rate 
schedule. 

That immediate provision be made for assessing the cost of fire pro- 


42 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


tection through general taxation by means of a hydrant rental 
charge. 

That private fire protection service be controlled. 

That water for use through hose be metered. 

That the co-operation of the building inspector be secured in locating 
the extensive reconstruction of buildings. 

That a charge be made for all services rendered. 

That action be taken to insure for the city the full benefit of meter 
installation and to simplify the procedure in making rebates. 

That a penalty for non-payment be substituted in place of discount 
for prompt payment. 

That meter revenue ledgers be improved and periodically balanced. 

That water bills be sent to consumers. 

That the city pay the premium on the cashier’s bond. 

That an attempt be made to settle at once the Norfolk County Water 
Co. question with the aid of experts. 

That special study be given to the Berkley contract now as a basis 
for contract revision. 

Street Cleaning and Collection and Disposal of Refuse 
(Proposed Bureau of Sanitation) 

That responsibility for the routine supervision of the bureau be cen¬ 
tralized in the hands of the chief of the bureau. 

That the organization unit for machine sweeping be changed. 

That the machine cleaning schedule be altered so that all cleaning 
could be done in one shift. 

That the pick-up forces on machine-broom work be reduced. 

That little extension of machine-broom work be undertaken in the 
future. 

■ 

That dirt gathered by hand sweeping be picked up by the sweeper. 

That a careful record be kept of the service received from various 
kinds of brooms. 

That pan scrapers be provided for use on smooth pavements. 

That squeegees be operated regularly in a battery preceded by a 
sprinkling cart. 

That limited hand flushing be tried in the business district. 

That special attention be given to the prevention of litter. 

That more litter cans be purchased and placed on the streets. 

That the practice of letting advertising privileges on street recepta¬ 
cles be abandoned. 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


43 . 


That precautions be taken against the scattering of material by de¬ 
fective or overloaded wagons. 

That local headquarters be provided for the street cleaning forces. 

That the present lane gang be transferred to the park department. 

That the ordinances governing the collection of refuse be improved 
and more accurate definitions be used in them. 

That definite requirements for receptacles be established. 

That three separations be required. 

That the number of collections be reduced. 

That the practice of trucking receptacles from yards to the curb 
and back again be given special consideration. 

That the gang system of collection be adopted. 

That larger and improved equipment be provided. 

That unloading devices be used. 

That all new equipment be as nearly dustless and odorless in its 
operation as possible. 

That the free collection of trade waste be discontinued and a fee 
system based upon the cost of collection be established. 

That control over the collection force be improved by the installation 
and use of proper records. 

That expert advice be obtained regarding the disposal problem and 
scientific observations be made of the operation of the new dis¬ 
posal plant. 

That minor alterations be made to the present plants and the ap¬ 
proaches be paved. 

That consideration be given to the possibilities of rubbish sorting 
and incineration in connection with other functions such as the 
pumping of sewage. 

That better fire protection be provided at the stable. 

That in building a new stable the possibilities of remodeling it into 
a garage be kept in mind. 

That adequate records of all facts relating to the purchase and use 
of horses be kept. 

That the stable be regarded as a service unit. 

That the veterinarian service be improved. 

That additional horses be obtained. 

That an accounting control be established over supplies and stores. 

That a record of the life and use of equipment be started. 

That all repair work be centralized. 

That the general manufacture of equipment be not attempted. 


44 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


That the stable superintendent be made a district superintendent. 

That a planning committee be appointed to lay out future work. 

That physical standards be required of all future employees. 

That physical examinations be conducted under the supervision of 
the municipal civil service commission. 

That a probation and instruction period be established. 

That standard methods of doing work be developed and adopted. 

That service records of each employee be kept. 

That the question of white vs. black labor be decided upon its merits. 

That the practice of paying one dollar per day to laborers on rainy 
days be abandoned. 

That a system of salary standardization and gradation be adopted. 

That a pension policy be formulated. 

That medical assistance be provided for employees. 

That distinctive uniforms and badges be required for the street 
cleaning and refuse collection forces. 

That an educational campaign be conducted to secure better public 
co-operation. 

That all ordinances relating to the bureau of sanitation be carefully 
revised so that they will clearly define the requirements of the 
bureau. 

That thorough publicity be given to ordinances. 

That better co-operation be secured from other city departments. 

That the police co-operation be made more effective. 

That complaints always be brought to the attention of the bureau 
head. 

That the officers of the bureau be empowered to issue summons. 

That physical data and statistics needed .by the bureau be gathered. 

That clerical assistance be provided for the bureau. 

That work reports be made available for current use. 

That the bureau be organized geographically into districts and sec¬ 
tions. 

That an annual report be prepared. 

Park Functions 

(Proposed Department of Parks) 

That the park department, playground commission, commission on 
beautifying the city and the cemetery department be combined into 
one department to be known as the department of parks. 

That the administrative head of the park department be a board, 
to be known as the board of park commissioners, composed of five 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


45 


members, serving without compensation other than actual ex¬ 
penses, whose terms shall be five years, one of whom shall be 
appointed each year by the central executive. That the city engi¬ 
neer and commissioner of welfare be ex-officio members. 

That a member be elected chairman annually. 

That the board appoint a paid executive officer, preferably one who 
has had education and experience in engineering, landscape archi¬ 
tecture and forestry. 

That a supervisor of playgrounds and a supervisor of cemeteries 
be appointed as assistants. 

That all purely engineering designs be made by the city engineer. 

That designs involving extensive landscape features be made by a 
competent landscape architect or by the executive officer in case 
one is secured who has had training in landscape architecture. 

That a general park plan which will provide for adequate recreation 
facilities be prepared as soon as possible. 

That construction work by departmental labor requiring extensive 
equipment be done by the department of public works. 

That construction work, under contract and grading involving ground 
shaping in conformance with a landscape design be done under 
the supervision of an inspector especially fitted for the work. 

That the provision of park reservations be considered in the prepa¬ 
ration of a park plan. 

That parkways be planned which will take advantage of the unique 
tidal streams. 

That playfields located on city owned property be planned for new 
“intown” parks. 

That the Norfolk Academy grounds be acquired immediately. 

That the city endeavor to supply amusement features for the ex¬ 
clusive use of the colored residents. 

That a plan for the planting of street trees be prepared. 

That the shade tree planting plan be carried into effect by planting 
a certain number of blocks each year and that property owners 
be allowed to plant only in accordance with the plan. 

That a city plan embracing all territory adjacent to the city be pre¬ 
pared and that the board of park commissioners act as an advisory 
board in the preparation of a city plan. 

That the parks be guarded by regular police officers and that a 
motorcycle be provided for their use in Lafayette Park. 

That the zoo be abolished. 

That the entire appropriation for parks be expended upon mainten¬ 
ance proper. 

That a horse or motor lawn-mower be provided. 


46 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Commission on Beautifying the City 

That the nurseries be either improved or discontinued. 

That a power sprayer be provided. 

That property owners be allowed to employ private tree men to 
care for trees, but that only those whose work is up to standard 
and who are licensed be allowed to work on street trees. 

Cemeteries 

That an ordinance be passed prohibiting mounds on graves. 

That horse or motor lawn-mowers be purchased. 

That payments for care of lots be made collectible as back taxes or 
by court order. 

That the superintendent of cemeteries be responsible to the board 
of park commissioners for the location and preparation of graves 
and monuments, the keeping of cemetery plot books and all work 
in the cemetery aside from the maintenance of lawns, structures 
and roads. 

Playground Commission 

That buildings for playground use be erected only on city-owned 
property. 

That grounds be kept open in the evenings. 

Civil Service 

That all of the city employees of Norfolk, except department heads, 
be selected on the basis of competitive examinations, and that their 
subsequent employment be subject to civil service regulations. 


t 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


47 


II 

SUGGESTIONS WHICH TO BE MADE EFFECTIVE REQUIRE 
CHANGES IN THE CHARTER OR OTHER STATUTES 

The Charter 

That a new charter be prepared and adopted which will provide (a) 
centralization of responsibility for leadership, (b) a more simple 
form of departmental organization, and (c) a more logical corre¬ 
lation of related functions than is possible under the present 
charter. This should include, among other fundamental changes, 
the abolition of the board of control. 

Revenue System 

That the fifty cent poll tax levied by tbe city be abolished. 

That the entire fee system be changed so that all fees collected will 
go into the city treasury, and all officials and subordinates em¬ 
ployees be placed on a salary basis commensurate with other city 
salaries. 

Budget Procedure 

That a complete executive budget system be adopted as described 
herein. 

Indebtedness 

That taxes be made payable in iwo installments—one at the be¬ 
ginning of the year, and the other in the middle of the year, so as 
to obviate the necessity of borrowing money to meet current ex¬ 
penses pending tbe time when taxes are collected. 

Purchasing Methods 

That when a new charter is prepared provision be made for the 
appointment of a purchasing agent. 

City Clerk 

That upon the adoption of a simpler form of government the staff 
in the city clerk’s office be decreased. 

That the office of the city clerk be consolidated with the office of 
auditor if commission or commission-manager government is 
adopted. 

City Collector (Including Delinquent Tax Collector) 

That the offices of both city collector and delinquent tax collector be 
abolished. All collections should be made by the city treasurer. 

Treasurer 

That the treasurer collect all revenues accruing to the city as well as 
all revenues accruing to the state. 

Sealer of Weights and Measures 

That the state law and ordinance be amended so as to provide that 
the sealer of weights and measures be a city official appointed 
by the central executive and responsible to the administrative head 
of the proposed department of social welfare. 


48 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


That the collection of fees in connection with the inspection of 
weights and measures be prohibited by statute. 

That the title of the sealer be changed to that of inspector of weights 
and measures. 

That the so-called department of weights and measures be organized 
as a bureau of the proposed department of social welfare. 

That the term “sealed” as applied to the inspection of weighing and 
measuring devices be omitted from the law, and instead the ex¬ 
amination of weighing and measuring devices be referred to as the 
testing and inspection thereof. 

That the inspector of weights and measures, because of the technical 
character of the work, be selected as a result of a competitive civil 
service examination, and that he be required to have a competent 
knowledge of mathematics and a general understanding of the 
mechanics of scales. 

That he be protected against arbitrary removal and serve during 
good behavior. 

That the law requiring semi-monthly inspections be amended so as 
to require but one routine inspection each year. 

That the state law be amended so as to permit the municipalities to 
increase by ordinances the powers of the city sealer or inspector. 

That the position of city gauger be abolished and that his functions 
be included in those of the sealer or inspector of weights and 
measures. 

Police Department 

That the charter be amended so as to provide for the appointment 
of the chief of police by the central executive as the result of a 
civil service competitive examination. 

That the chief be protected from arbitrary removal and that he 
serve during good behavior, enjoying the same protection afforded 
patrolmen by the civil service rules and regulations. 

That he be directly responsible to the central executive and that 
his duties be only such as may be delegated to him by the central 
executive. 

That a law be enacted requiring the establishment of a municipal 
pension system. 

That the chief of police and police captains be empowered by law to 
discharge from custody, when sober and in condition to go home, 
prisoners arrested for intoxication, thus making unnecessary their 
arraingement in the police court—this to apply in cases where no 
other complaint except intoxication is made. The law should 
further provide that where the record shows prisoners to be habi¬ 
tual drunkards, they be detained and arrainged before the police 
justice. 

Police Court and Justices of the Peace 

That the police justice be appointed by the central executive for a 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


49 


term of ten years, and that his removal be effected only by im¬ 
peachment proceedings before a court of higher jurisdiction. 

That the salary of the justice be paid by the city and that the cost of 
operating and maintaining the police court be born by the city. 

That the system of assessing cost against defendants be discontinued. 

That all moneys collected as fines in the police court be paid into the 
city treasury. 

That the clerk of the court be appointed by the central executive 
as the result of a competitive civil service examination and that 
he be removed only for cause after a hearing. 

That the legal procedure for the investigation of juvenile cases be 
revised so as to remove from it all of the aspects of a criminal 
investigation. 

That, in revising the legal procedure, consideration be given to estab¬ 
lishing a procedure which will aim to fix the responsibility of the 
parents or guardians for the condition of the child rather than to 
establish the guilt or innocence of the child. 

That the law be amended so as to provide for the appointment of 
one instead of ten justices of the peace. 

That the justice of the peace retained be designated as assistant 
police justice and empowered to exercise, while serving as assist¬ 
ant justice, the same functions as those of the police justice. 

That the procedure for the acceptance of bail for prisoners', afrested 
be revised so as to empower the superior officers of the police de¬ 
partment to accept bail in misdemeanor cases, and the police justice 
and his assistant in felony cases. 

That no fee be charged when accepting bail for prisoners. 

That all of the functions now exercised by the police justices be 
transferred to the existing courts, all criminal warrants; being 
issued by the police justice, and all civil processes by the clerk 
of the civil justice's court. 

City Sergeant 

That the position of city sergeant be abolished. 

That all processes now served by the city sergeant as sheriff here¬ 
after be served by the clerk of the corporation court. ■ ,• 

That the clerk be permitted to employ a process server whose salary 
shall be paid out of the fees collected. 

That all fees in excess of expenses in connection with the service 
of processes be turned in to the city treasury. — 

That the jail be maintained and operated as a municipal institution. 

That the fee system in connection with the management of the jail 
and feeding of the prisoners be abandoned. 

• • ) » 

That the jail be under the immediate supervision of a warden ap- 


(4) 


so 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


pointed by the central executive as the result of a competitive civil 
service examination. 

That the warden be paid an annual salary to be fixed by council in 
the same manner as are the salaries of all other employees. 

That provision be made by the state for housing elsewhere, and 
under modern conditions, prisoners convicted of crimes and sen¬ 
tenced for terms in excess of three months, thus establishing the 
present jail as a city prison for the detention of prisoners com¬ 
mitted awaiting trial and those committed for short terms for 
minor infractions of the laws and ordinances. 

That prisoners sentenced to death be transferred as promptly as 
possible to a state institution, and that the present law requiring 
their detention in the city jail until within a few days of the time 
set for their execution be amended. 

Commonwealth Attorney 

That the fee system be abolished and the commonwealth attorney 
receive only a salary. 

That the commonwealth attorney be prohibited by statute from 
engaging in private practice, civil or criminal, during his term of 
office. 

That the commonwealth attorney be required by statute to maintain 
complete and detailed records of all cases handled by him. 

That the commonwealth attorney be required by statute to prepare 
and file with the judge of the corporation court a comprehensive 
report as to the work performed by his office. This report should 
he so compiled as to be of administrative, statistical and historical 
value, and should be a public record. 

Coroner 

That the office of coroner be abolished and provision made for the 
administration of the functions of that office as described herein. 

Fire Department 

That the charter be amended so as to provide for the appointment 
of the chief of the fire department by the central executive as the 
result of a competitive civil service examination. 

That the chief be protected against arbitrary removal and that he 
serve during good behavior, enjoying the same protection afforded 
other members of the department by the civil service rules and 
regulations. 

That he be directly responsible to the central executive and that 
his duties be only such as may be delegated to him by the central 
executive. 

That the law empower the central executive to promulgate rules and 
regulations covering the management and discipline of the fire 
department. 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


51 


That a law be enacted requiring the establishment of a municipal 
pension system. 

That a statute be enacted authorizing the establishment of a fire 
prevention commission and that this commission be empowered to 
promulgate and enforce, under penalties, the rules and regulations 
governing fire prevention which shall have the force and effect 
of statutes. 

That this commission consist of the central executive, the superin¬ 
tendent of buildings or building inspector, chief of the fire depart¬ 
ment, and one citizen appointed by the central executive, to serve 
without pay. 

That the chief be designated as the executive officer of the commis¬ 
sion with full power to execute orders of the commission. 

Proposed Department of Welfare 

That a department of welfare be created under a commissioner of 
welfare to include the following organization units: 

1. Bureau of health. 

2. Bureau of markets. 

3. City home. 

4. Bureau of weights and measures. 

Public Works Functions 
Proposed Department of Public Works 

That the council be relieved of all administrative duties. 

That the responsibility for the administration of the public works 
functions be placed in the hands of one qualified executive. 

That the present independent units be brought together into a real 
departmental organization consisting of: 

1. Office of commissioner of public works. 

2. Two administrative groups, each headed by a deputy com¬ 

missioner. 

3. Four operating bureaus. 

That accounting statistical work and other general office functions 
be centralized under a fiscal deputy. 

That provision for a high grade of engineering supervision be made 
and certain functions be centralized under an engineering deputy. 

That the office of the city engineer be abolished, and in its place 
be established a bureau of highway and sewers, a division of 
design and survey, and certain other divisions. 

That a bureau of buildings be organized to include the functions 
of the present building inspector, inspector of plumbing, cus¬ 
todian of public buildings, and a large part of the duties of the 
superintendent of electrical afitairs. 

That the department of water be reorganized into a bureau of water. 


52 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


That the department of street cleaning be reorganized into a bureau 
of sanitation. 

That the qualifications of the commissioner of public works be 
executive ability, engineering training or experience, and, pre¬ 
ferably, not include a requirement of residence. 

That the commissioner of public works be empowered to appoint 
and remove the heads of bureaus subject to reasonable civil ser¬ 
vice control. 

That all subordinate positions, except those of a purely secretarial 
nature, be placed under the regulation of a municipal civil service 
commission. 

That under the fiscal deputy the following financial and accounting 
divisions be centralized: 

Division of permits. 

Division of accounts and records. 

Division of stores and supplies. 

That under the engineering deputy the following engineering func¬ 
tions and divisions be centralized: 

Division of design and survey. 

Testing laboratory. 

inspection division. 

Division of gas and electricity. 

City shops and garage. 

That the proposed division of gas and electricity take over the 
supervision of the gas and electric companies and contracts, the 
control over theatre electricians, and provide consulting advice on 
electrical affairs to the city officials. 

That the present department of electrical affairs be abolished. 

That control of the police and fire signal systems be transferred to 
the police and fire departments, but all maintenance service be 
rendered by the division of gas and electricity. 

That control over the location of lights be placed in the department 
of public works. 

Highways and Sewers 

(Proposed Bureau of Highways and Sewers) 

That the bureau of highways and sewers be organized in three divi¬ 
sions—a division of highways, a division of sewers, and a division 
of bridges and waterfront. 

That the policy to be followed in pavement construction be initiated 
by the commissioner of public works. 

That provision be made for special paving construction in the street 
railway area. 


ECONOMY AND EFFICIENCY 


53 


That maintenance of the pavement in the railway area be carried on 
by city employees and compensated by a franchise or direct tax. 

That it be made possible for the commissioner of public works to 
initiate sidewalk construction. 

Building- Inspection 

(Proposed Bureau of Buildings) 

That the duties of the building inspector, plumbing inspector, and 
superintendent of electrical afifairs be combined into a central 
bureau of buildings under the commissioner of public buildings. 

Water Supply 

(Proposed Bureau of Water) 

That general administrative responsibility for the bureau of water 
be placed in the hands of one man—a commissioner of public 
works. 

Street Cleaning and Collection, and Disposal of Refuse 
(Proposed Bureau of Sanitation) 

That the general administrative responsibility for the bureau of 
sanitation (now department of street cleaning) be placed in the 
hands of the commissioner of public works. 


54 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


III 

SUGGESTIONS WHICH TO BE MADE EFFECTIVE REQUIRE 
CHANGES IN THE STATE CONSTITUTION 

The Charter 

That the city treasurer, city sergeant, commissioner of revenue, and 
clerks of courts be made appointive instead of elective offices. 

That provision be made whereby the principles of proportional rep¬ 
resentation may be adopted. 

Revenue System 

That the function of assessing lands and buildings be vested in a 
single officer or board. 

That special assessments be levied on property benefited by the con¬ 
struction of local improvements. 

Land Assessors 

That provision be made for assessing land annually instead of only 
once in five years. 

That provision be made whereby the city may capitalize the ex¬ 
perience gained by its assessors. 

That the assessment of land and buildings be vested in the same 
officials. 

Public Works Functions 

That a modified special assessment policy be adopted and made effec¬ 
tive. 

That the zone system of assessment be used in apportioning the cost 
of local improvements. 

Park Functions 

That park maintenance charges be met by general taxation. 


THE CHARTER 


55 


THE CHARTER 








THE CHARTER 


57 


THE CHARTER 

Norfolk’s need for a new charter is evidenced not by an extrav¬ 
agance in financial administration so much as by failure of the govern¬ 
ment to render enough service, and services of sufficiently high grade. 
Throughout this report will be noted defects in administrative methods, 
but it is deemed best to assemble here at this point those fundamental 
defects which exist in the structural organization of the government— 
defects in the machine which receives the people’s money, and from 
which public service is the product. 

Among the principal defects of the present charter in respect to the 
machine which it provides to do the work are— 

1 — No responsibility for leadership 

2 — A complicated organization 

3 — Insufficient correlation of related functions 

4 — Too many elective officers 

5 — Inequitable representation of electorate 

The first three defects may be corrected by the general assembly 
of the state through the medium of a new charter; the fourth and fifth 
demand a revision of the constitution. In fact, considerable constitu¬ 
tional revision is necessary if the cities of Virginia are to obtain the best 
form of government. 

Responsibility for Leadership 

Present Charter: 

In a city having a mayor and council form of government, the 
general impression of the public is that the mayor is not only the chief 
executive of the city, but that he also is responsible for good or bad 
administration. This is as it should be, but it is not descriptive of con¬ 
ditions in Norfolk. The mayor of Norfolk has not the power of leader¬ 
ship. In fact, his only power is the negative power of veto, and even 
that may be overridden by the common council. The very location of 
the mayor’s office in a small, obscure building behind the court-house 
at some distance from the city hall may, by way of illustration, be cited 
as typical of the small responsibility and authority of its occupant. 

The board of control cannot exercise leadership because of the very 
character of its composition—the very fact that it is a board. No board 
can exercise executive functions satisfactorily any more than a single 
official can exercise legislative and policy-determining functions satis¬ 
factorily. Even if a single member of the board of control attempted 
to assume leadership and take the responsibility therefor, he would be 
unable to protect his leadership. 

The common council cannot exercise executive leadership for the 
same reason cited with respect to the board of control. It is true that 
several of the councilmanic committees do attempt to perform admin¬ 
istrative duties, but this only tends to further complicate and confuse 
the situation because it becomes even more impossible to locate respon¬ 
sibility for conditions and failure to secure adequate results. The 


58 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


council was intended as a legislative body, and, in the light of both 
theory and practice everywhere, it should remain a legislative body and 
not permit its committees to do administrative work for which they are 
not in any way equipped. A large number of the executive officers 
of the city are elected by the council and hence defer to it, but the 
responsibility thus existing in this body is diffused over so many 
individual members that, so far as the public is concerned, there is no 
real responsibility anywhere. 

A New Charter: 

The Bureau of Municipal Research does not advocate any par¬ 
ticular form of charter. It does submit, however, that Norfolk needs 
a charter which shall provide for a centralization of executive authority 
and responsibility in a single official. It is immaterial whether he be 
called a mayor or city manager, but he should have the appointing 
power of the various department heads, and should be responsible for 
preparing and submitting the annual budget for the approval of the leg¬ 
islative branch of the government. He should have full authority and 
power to assume leadership in the development and administration of 
measures which, in his judgment, will result in good for the community. 
With such leadership would go full responsibility, and he should be 
given adequate means of protecting such responsibility. Instead of 
making it possible to have elections of city officials only at fixed 
periods, the charter should provide a means whereby either the execu¬ 
tive branch of the government (mayor or city manager) or the legisla¬ 
tive branch (council or commission) could “go to the people,” i. e., call 
a popular election to settle any important issue which might develop 
and threaten the tie up of the city’s interests until the close of the official 
term. The executive and legislative branches should rise or fall on the 
results of such elections. 

If the chief executive officer developed any important plans and 
measures which he deemed for the good of the city, but for which he 
could not get the support of the legislative branch, then he should be 
able to go direct to the people by calling an election, and if he were 
upheld at such election, the then councilmen or commissioners should 
be automatically retired and replaced at the same election by men in 
harmony with the program of the chief executive and who would sup¬ 
port him in carrying it out. • 

Similarly, the council or commission should have the same privilege 
to "go to the people" at any time on an important issue between itself 
and the chief executive officer. Most issues could be settled by a 
simple referendum, but there might be certain matters—such, for 
example, as the various plans for a future year which should be com¬ 
prehended within a complete budget, which would constitute an issue 
so broadly and intimately affecting the interests of the public at large 
over such a prolonged period that an opportunity should be afforded 
for public approval or disapproval of the proposed policy. 

Form of Organization 

Present Charter: 

It would be difficult to devise a form of government better fitted for 


THE CHARTER 


59 


shifting responsibility than the present government of Norfolk. Its 
complexity tends moreover to cumbersome procedure, “red tape,” waste 
motion, duplication, unnecessary expense, curtailment of service, etc. 

Very few citizens of Norfolk understand the organization of their 
city government. Even if they studied it as set forth on a graphic 
chart, it is doubtful if they could remember it, so numerous and complex 
are the lines of authority. 

In the first place, as we have already pointed out, the mayor is not 
a real executive officer. Practically all of the administrative heads of 
the various departments and officers are elected by the common council, 
but a part of them are nevertheless under the administrative supervision 
of the board of control—in fact, under the supervision of both the board 
of control and committees of council. It is difficult for the man on the 
street to remember which departments are under the board of control 
and which are not. 

To still further complicate the scheme of organization, several 
important officers are elected by the people, and hence largely independent 
not only of the mayor, but also of the board of control and of the common 
council. Which officers are elected by the council and which by the 
people is difficult to remember because there are so many of them. 

Further examination develops the fact that some of the city’s 
officers who are appointed, are appointed, not by authorities of the city 
at all, but by state authorities. Again the question arises, which 
is which ? 

A New Charter : 

When considering the form of government which should be pro¬ 
vided by a new charter, the fact should be recognized that there is no 
need for any complicated mechanism, no need for experimentation, or 
the introduction of unusual checks, safeguards, etc. 

The city council, whether it be large or small, and whether it be 
called a council or a commission, should be purely legislative in its 
functions. 

Full executive responsibility should be vested in a single official. 
He should have full authority with respect to appointments and be 
held responsible for his appointees. The central accounting officer 
should be appointed by the chief executive, but the central auditing 
officer should be elected. 

Correlation of Related Functions 

Present Charter: 

The existing lines of authority proceed separately, either from the 
board of control or from the common council, or both, to each individual 
organization unit of the city government. Practically no correlation 
of related functions is provided for in the present charter. For example, 
the public works functions are scattered among the officers and depart¬ 
ments of the city engineer, street inspector, superintendents of street 
cleaning, water department, building inspector, superintendent of elec¬ 
trical affairs, plumbing inspector, etc. Similarly, the public welfare 
functions are scattered among the offices and departments of the 


60 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


health commissioner, superintendent of City Home, superintendent of 
markets, city veterinarian, etc. 

Although an attempt has been made to group those offices and 
departments which are under the board of control, the grouping is 
illogical and does not facilitate administration of the various functions 
included. For example, the police and fire departments are under the 
jurisdiction of separate members of the board of control, although there 
is in every city a close relation of these two functions. Similarly, with 
respect to the public works functions, the supervision of electrical 
affairs and building inspections are under one of the three members of 
the board of control; plumbing insoeHion is under another; and other 
public works functions under the third member. 

A New Charter: 

A proper grouping of the organization units which administer 
related functions would not only enable each of such units (depart¬ 
ments, offices, etc.) to help the other and thus eliminate waste motion, 
red tape, etc., but it would also bring about a simpler governmental 
structure. 

No matter what form of charter may be adopted, whether the 
government be continued with a mayor and council or whether it be 
commission or commission manager, provision should nevertheless be 
made for a department of public works which would comprehend all 
public works functions and activities as recommended in the chapter of 
this report relating to that subject. Provision should also be made for 
a department of welfare which would comprehend all functions and 
activities directly related to promoting and conserving the public wel¬ 
fare. Although many cities have recognized the desirability of estab¬ 
lishing departments of public safety which include police and fire 
departments, it is believed that Norfolk is not yet sufficiently large to 
justify the establishing of such a department. The affairs of g'overn- 
ment in Norfolk are not yet so complex but that the chief executive 
of the city, i. e., mayor or city manager, could readily keep in touch 
with his chief of police and his fire chief. In short, the injection of 
another supervising official between the two latter officials and the 
chief executive of the city would not only be an unnecessary expense, 
but would tend to complicate and hinder the proper supervision of these 
departments. 

Similarly, with respect to the administration of the city's financial 
offices, Norfolk is not sufficiently large to justify the establishing of a 
department of finance. Each of the present financial officers can as well 
be directly supervised by the chief executive of the city. 

However, in event commission government be adopted, the very 
theory thereof assumes that each of the commissioners will exercise 
active administrative supervision over some department of the city’s 
government, that all of the functions of government will be distributed 
among the several commissioners. Hence, with a commission at the 
head of the government, a department of public safety and a department 
of finance might properly be established. Although the supervision of 


THE CHARTER 


61 


the extra commissioners is not needed, nevertheless commission govern¬ 
ment is based on that theory. 

In this connection it is pointed out that the functions of a city divide 
logically into four groups and not into five. Hence, if a commission of 
five, including a mayor, is adopted, the four departments should com¬ 
prise public works, public welfare, public safety, finance. The mayor 
should not be required to exercise active supervision over any particular 
department, but he should have full investigatory powers over all de¬ 
partments. He should be the chief efficiency officer of the city and 
have an efficiency staff or bureau attached to his office. Experience 
shows that a large proportion of a mayor’s time is taken up with receiv¬ 
ing visitors, extending the courtesies of the city, etcs. This being- 
true, it is believed that he should not be expected to administer any 
particular department because he will not have sufficient time to do so 
satisfactorily, and, if he does manage to find time, the other departments 
will not receive That supervision, overhauling and assistance which 
should be given by the chief executive of the city whom the people 
hold responsible for results. 

Elective Officers 

The advantages of a short ballot are too familliar to the American 
public to justify repetition in this report. The various officers for 
which the electorate of Norfolk is called upon to vote during a four- 
year period are set forth in the following table. It should be noted, 
however, that in addition to the elections specified, primaries are also 
held prior to the general and November elections. 


62 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


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THE CHARTER 


63 


Irrespective of vvliat is decided with respect to the number and 
manner of election of aldermen and councilmen, the board of control 
should be abolished. Moreover, amendments for constitutional revision 
should be submitted to the next session of the general assembly providing 
for making the city treasurer, city sergeant and commissioner of 
revenue appointive by the chief executive officer of the city. Similarly, 
there is no need for having the clerks of the courts elective officers. 
They should be appointed either by the chief executive of the city or 
by the courts. 

Representation of Electorate 

The present plan of representation by wards is not equitable. The 
members really represent only those who voted for them. The 
minority in each ward has, in point of fact, no representation. It is 
just such conditions that have brooded apathy long enough in our 
cities: the minority voters have become discouraged because they have 
felt that their votes were of no value. 

No councilman can properly represent two opposing interests, 
and yet there may be several different interest in his ward which should 
be represented in the government. It is believed that the only method 
which will provide a proper representation of the various classes and 
conditions is what is popularly known as “proportional representation.” 
Although the adoption of such a plan in Norfolk would probably require 
a constitutional amendent, it should not cast aside because of that 
fact. On the contrary, an endeavor should be made to obtain such an 
amendment. The reasons for this recommendation may be sum¬ 
marized as follows: 

First—If each of the wards places a man in council, it 
would not mean that each ward would be really 
represented, because many people in each of the 
wards would have voted against the successful 
candidate. On the other hand, if the city elector¬ 
ate were divided into—say, the seven largest 
groups which could be formed out of the total 
number of voters, then every part of the city 
would be represented, because every vote cast 
would count and not be lost, as in the case of 
votes cast for unsuccessful canidates. 

Second—Assuming, for the sake of argument, that the 
men elected from a given ward did represent the 
entire ward, then those persons living therein 
who voted against him would be forced to have 
him represent them no matter what their inter¬ 
ests or opinions are, simply because by virtue of 
circumstances they happen to live in that particu¬ 
lar part of the city. 

Third—Viewing the case from the standpoint of the 
council, a successful candidate under the ward 
system may get his seat in council simply because 


64 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


he is wanted by a bare plurality, or, under pre¬ 
ferential voting, by a bare majority. 

Fourth—Even in wards where the voters are mostly 
of one mind and interest, the minority could, 
nevertheless be represented under a scheme of 
proportional representation, because not a single 
vote would be wasted—every vote cast would 
count. 

Fifth—The ward system would put into the council 
the men who get the most votes respectively in 
each of the wards, whereas prooortional repre¬ 
sentation would put into council the men who 
get the most votes in the seven largest groups in 
the city (or whatever number may be adopted). 

Thus proportional representation would make 
for contimity of policy, because a good man 
would he continued m council even though senti¬ 
ment changed in the ward in which he lived. 
Councilman would change only as the interests 
and opinions of the entire communitv changed, 
or as the councilmen themselves faded to live uo 
to their promises and original tenets of belief. 

Sixth—With respect to the geographical arrangement 
of the city, proportional representation would 
enable a voter to support a man in his own ward 
or neighborhood, the same as under the ward 
system, if he wanted to 

If Norfolk is to continue the ward system, then such number of 
councilmen should be elected at large as will exceed the number elected 
by wards and thus give the former a majority: For example—three 
by wards or districts and four at large, or four by wards or districts 
and five at large, etc. Moreover, if proportional representation be not 
adopted, preferential voting should, nevertheless, be provided for. 
The charter should also provide for rotation of names on the ballots 
so that the name of a given candidate will not appear first on all 
ballots simply because he was fortunate in getting his petition filed first. 

All councilmen should be elected for not less than four years, 
except that provision be made whereby the executive or legislative 
branch may “go to the people” on important issues, then provision 
should be made whereby councilmen will be elected for four years from 
the date of the last election. 

There should be no overlapping of terms in any ordinance-making 
body. If an important issue arises between the executive and legisla¬ 
tive branches of the government, and a deadlock ensues, then it should 
be possible for the people, if they so desired, to retire the entire admin¬ 
istrative branch (council) in favor of a council which would support the 
chief executive (mayor or city manager) This, of course, would not 
prevent re-electing such minority members as had not opposed the 
program of the executive branch. 


REVENUE SYSTEM 


65 


REVENUE SYSTEM 


( 5 ) 





V. V A 















REVENUE SYSTEM 


67 




REVENUE SYSTEM 





Property Taxes 

The constitution requires that all real estate shall be assessed at 
“its fair market value.” As a matter of fact it has heretofore been 
assessed at only about two-thirds of its value. Many of the other 
cities and counties in the state have not valued their property even 
that high. The state as well as the city has levied direct taxes on 
the city’s valuation. If the city had assessed its property higher, i. e., 
nearer the real value, it would have been penalized for obeying the 
law, because it would have resulted in Norfolk paying in to the state 
treasury a much greater tax per $100 valuation than the other cities and 
counties of the state. 


However, the last general assembly of Virginia changed these 
conditions, and the state now levies only a 10c direct tax upon the 
city’s real estate. This is for school purposes. By adopting a plan 
of taxation known as “segregation,” the state and city governments 
have separate sources of revenue. Therefore, there is no longer any 
good reason why all of the real estate in Norfolk should not be assessed 
at its fair market value. The constitution says that all taxes “shall 
be uniform upon the same class of subjects.” It is a physical im¬ 
possibility to make taxes uniform on real estate unless all real estate 
be assessed at its full value. The latter is the only fair and equitable 
basis and until such a method is adopted in Norfolk there will continue 
to be inequity and dissatisfaction with the assessments. This dissatis¬ 
faction may not make itself known in public protests, but will, never¬ 
theless, be a latent undercurrent militating against best results in the 
city’s government. Experience shows that whenever property is 
assessed at more than its real value, the owner will protest, but so 
long as it is assessed at less than the value required by law, the owner 
will usually remain silent even if he knows that others are assessed at 
a lower ratio. For example, if A, B and C are assessed at 90 per cent, 
80 per cent and 70 per cent, respectively, the probability is that none 
will protest because each knows that he should be assessed at 100 per cent. 


Business Taxes 

The assessment of local merchants on the basis of the amount of 
business done is a tax peculiar to southern cities. Whether its applica¬ 
tion is really for the advantage of such cities is open to question. 
That taxation based on business done, or annual purchases as in 
Norfolk, in addition to taxation of real estate, personalty, incomes, etc., 
gives to the prospective merchant who contemplates settling in Norfolk 
the appearance of overtaxation is unquestionably true. That it is a tax 
which is almost impossible to assess equitably is also true. On the 
other hand, this business tax being added to the selling price of 
merchandise is in reality distributed over the entire population of the 
city and in this respect each person bears a part thereof. The point 
of the problem is whether this same result would not be attained if 
the business tax were abandoned and the amount of revenue which it 
now produces were added to the tax on real estate. This latter method 
would have the advantage of eliminating the undesirable features 
already noted herein. 


6S 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


The merchants’ tax in Norfolk, as distinguished from the license 
tax which is fixed in amount, yields only about $65,000 a year. If the 
assessment on land had been made on a 100 per cent basis instead of 
66jf as in 191 , it would have yielded $210,000 more (computed on a 
rate of $1.90) than it did on the two-thirds basis. This is several times 
the amount received from the merchants’ tax. Thus abandonment of 
the latter source would be much more than offset by levying on land 
alone tie tax specified in the constitution. It is notable that this result 
would be produced without increasing the assessment of buildings, so 
that if desired the present three-fourth valuation of buildings might be 
conlinued, and land alone be assessed at its full value. Without any 
radical change whatever, Norfolk could thus fall in line with the 
tendency which is becoming manifest in different parts of the country 
to tax buildings on a lower basis than that applied to land. For 
example, the second class cities of Pennsylvania began two years ago 
to reduce their assessment on buildings annually over a period of years 
until it shall have reached a point where buildings are assessed at only 
50 per cent of the land basis. 

Reverting to the present inequity of the business taxes, it should 
be noted that the law is seriously defective with respect to the fees 
allowed the commissioner of revenue, in that he receives the same 
amout of fee for each tax document issued, irrespective of the amount 
of the tax collected. He, therefore, has no incentive to investigate 
each case and see to it that the tax is levied on the full amount of pur¬ 
chases made during the year. All fees to the commissioner of revenue 
and other officials should be abolished, but, nevertheless, so long as 
they are continued, they should be on such a basis as would at least 
insure the city receiving all of the revenue due it. If the commissioner 
of revenue is to continue to receive a fee for each business tax collected, 
then such fee should be graduated and based on the amount of such 
tax so that it would be to his financial benefit to collect the tax in full. 
As a natural result of the present method of assessing this tax, it became 
necessary to have another official, “the examiner of records,” assist this 
year in assessing it. 

Liquor Licenses 

The decrease in revenues due to loss of liquor license as one of the 
principal sources will amount to about $110,000 per year. Whether 
this loss will be felt keenly will remain unknown until there has been 
a try-out of the new tax law. Even though the loss is not replaced bv 
revenue from other sources, the city can still offset it by assessing 
real estate at its full value. 

Poll Taxes 

The law in Norfolk with respect to poll tax requires that (1) each 
male over twenty-one shall pay fifty cents poll tax to the city; (2) each 
ma'e over twenty-one shall pay $1.50 annual poll tax to the state, of 
which fifty cents is to be returned to the city for school purposes. 

The payment of this latter tax is a prerequisite to voting and is 
also a lien on real estate. 

It is understood that at the time the law was being drafted to 


REVENUE SYSTEM 


69 


provide for a state poll tax, the intention was to give a dollar to the 
state and fifty cents to the city to replace the fifty-cent poll tax already 
levied by the city, but that through inadvertence the law which levied 
the fifty cents city poll tax was not repealed, and as a result both taxes 
are now levied. 

The fifty cents city tax should be abolished. It is much trouble to 
collect, is not a prerequisite to voting, is not a lien on anything and 
yedds very little revenue. There are approximately 20,000 polls in the 
city of which approximately 6,000 are colored. From the latter the 
city collects practically nothing—the total amount being about $100. 
From the 14,000 whites, instead of collecting $7,000., the city is able 
to collect about $2,200 ; thus the tax yields only about $2,300 in the 
aggregate. 

Water Rates 

The adequacy of the city’s water rates to support the water works 
is discussed elsewhere in this report. It is only necessary to state here 
that no endeavor should be made to make a profit on water for the pur¬ 
pose of using the surplus to help out in meeting other expenses of the 
government. Water is a necessity for the good health and well-being 
of the city’s population and its use freely should be encouraged by mak¬ 
ing the rates as low as possible after providing for the cost of operation, 
maintenance and extensions, and also depreciation of plant and debt 
amortization. 

Special Assessments 

The one cause more than any other which unquestionably has 
contributed to the present financial stringency of Norfolk’s government 
is its inability, under the constitution, to levy special assessments 
against real estate which is benefited because of the fact that it adjoins 
property on which the city makes local improvments. Section 170 of 
the constitution provides that— 

“No city or town shall impose any tax or assessment 
upon abutting land owners for street or other 
public local improvments, except for making 
and improving the walkways upon then existing 
streets, and improving and paving then existing 
alleys, and for either the construction, or for the 
use of sewers ; and the same, when imposed, shall 
not be in excess of the peculiar benefits resulting 
therefrom to such abutting land owners.’’ 

It appears that special assessments as formerly applied became 
very unpopular and resulted, in 1902, in incorporating the above section 
in the constitution. It is unfortunate for Norfolk that this restriction 
exists. It should be removed. As the city grows and the need for 
more pavements, sewers, and other local improvements increases, the 
burden will become more and more heavy on the general tax levy. 
When property which abutts or lies in the proximity of a local improve¬ 
ment enhances in value solely because of such improvement, it is only 
equitable and only sound public finance to assess such property for a 


70 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


proportion of the amount by which it benefits, instead of assessing the 
cost of such improvement against all property throughout the city— 
a large proportion of which does not increase in value because of it. 
The wisdom of this principle is recognized generally by tax specialists, 
economists, and students of public finance throughout the country. 
If in its application in Norfolk, unjust and illogical methods were used, 
the principal should not be condemmed, but rather should it be retained 
and the methods corrected. 

The expedient of having a group of property owners in a certain 
part of the city enter into an agreement with the government to 
accept such an increased valuation as will produce an amount equiv¬ 
alent to the cost of an improvment is but an indication or proof of the 
need of levying special assessments in Norfolk. 

For the city to pay for strictly local improvements out of its annual 
tax levy or from corporate bonds, the interest on which, and eventually 
the principal, must be paid from the general tax levy, is unfair to the 
property owners of the older sections of the city. 

Fees 

Norfolk still retains the archaic and extravagant fee system. 
Among the officers who still collect and retain fees are the commissioner 
of revenue, clerk of courts, city sergeant, city collector, city treasurer, 
justices of the peace, and police justices. The subject is discussed 
here in connection with the city’s revenue system because it has a very 
direct relation thereto. If all fees collected were paid into the city 
treasury it would make an additional amount of money available for 
general city purposes. The retention of fees of public officers in lieu 
of salary was designed originally for sparsely settled communities and 
is now discarded by progressive cities throughout the country. Never¬ 
theless it is still part of the fundamental law of both Norfolk and the 
state of Virginia. As a community which is under the fee system 
increases in population and in the amount of public business transacted, 
the fees received by its public officials increase until they are out of 
proportion to the services rendered by such officials, and also out of 
all proporton to the salaries received by the other officials who are not 
on a fee basis. This has been the result in Norfolk. They have in¬ 
creased out of proportion to both the services rendered and the other 
salaries paid by the city. A fee system may also have the bad effect 
of assisting an official to perpetuate himself in office and enable him 
to prevent a change in the law. 

Although the last General Assembly of Virginia revised the fee 
system of certain of the above named offices, it is still very defective. 
All fees should accrue to the city and all collecting officers and their 
employees be placed on a salary basis which is comparable with other 
citv salaries. 


BUDGET PROCEDURE 


7 ) 


BUDGET PROCEDURE 



BUDGET PROCEDURE 


73 


BUDGET PROCEDURE. 

Budget Calendar 

The sequence of procedure in preparing and considering the annual 
appropriation estimates and the adoption thereof is as follows: 

City clerk sends letters to departments 
asking for estimates of amounts 

needed the ensuing year.About December 15 

Estimates submitted by departments to 

city clerk.During January and February 

Reviewed by board of control and by 

finance committee of council.During February and March 

Finance committee reports to council. Early in April 
(April 5, 1913; April 7, 1914; May 
14, 1915.)* 

Appropriations made by council.Late in April 

(Council aims to adopt appropria¬ 
tions before the tax and license ordi¬ 
nance, which latter takes place prior 
to the beginning of the license year, 

May 1st. The 1915-16 appropriation 
was not finally approved until June 
29th.)* 

Submittal of Estimates 

Instead of the departmental appropriation estimates being submitted 
without any real classification and on sundry sizes and rulings of paper, 
the Norfolk estimates are prepared on uniform blanks. This is as it 
should be. Although these blanks serve the purpose for which they 
were intended fairly well, it is believed that there is yet some room for 
improvement. For example, it is always desirable to have the data of at 
least two prior years set forth in parallel columns as a basis for compari¬ 
son, instead of merely one year. Similarly, it is an advantage to the 
officials who are to pass judgment on the estimates, and also to the public, 
if the increases and decreases between the preceding years and the re¬ 
quests for the future year are set forth in separate columns. 

It is true that the typewritten tables which the city clerk subsequently 
prepares for use of the finance committee and board of control embody the 
changes here suggested. In fact, the data which the city clerk prepares is 
complete in every detail. However, he should not be called upon to do 
this work. It is the proper function of the chief accounting officer, who, 
under an existing ordinance, is the comptroller. He has in his possession 
all of the information needed, whereas none of it is maintained in the city 
clerk’s office. Thus, if it devolved upon the comptroller to summarize 
the estimates for the finance committee and board of control, the changing 
of the columnar rulings of the original estimate forms as here suggested 
would greatly simplify his 'work. 

The estimates should, of course, be on an expense basis, contain unit 

*Unusually late in 1915 because of waiting for legislature to apply 
new tax law. 







74 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


costs wherever it is possible to prepare unit costs, and also sufficient 
explanatory text to enlighten not only the board of control and members 
of council, but also the public with respect to the results obtained during 
the preceding year and the reasons for the requests for the ensuing year. 
The absence or inadequacy of expense and unit cost accounts in the city 
departments makes it impossible at the present time to report much data 
of this character, but before the close of another year steps should be 
taken to supplement the city’s accounting system so that ample data of 
this character will be available at budget-making time. 

Public Hearings and Other Publicity 

Irrespective of whatever well-founded criticism of the city’s busi¬ 
ness methods there may be, the fact remains that a portion of the criticism 
is due to the lack of complete and correct information on the part of the 
critics. 1'he best way to eliminate criticism of this character and secure 
a heart) co-operation of both the public official and the critics is to use 
every means possible to enlighten the public at budget-making time con¬ 
cerning the city’s revenues and expenses. It should be remembered that 
appropriations are made for an entire year, that the action of council in 
adopting the annual appropriations practically determines the city’s work 
program for an entire year. It is, therefore, desirable not only to afford 
opportunity for all taxpayers to hear and be heard when appropriations 
are being formulated, but to take steps to inform the public through the 
press, pulpit, pamphlets, etc., relative to what is being done and what is 
proposed to be done. Commercial organizations, civic organizations and 
in fact all organizations and persons should be encouraged to take an 
interest in the city’s annual budget because such interest creates a better 
understanding of the city’s needs and conditions—a better citizenship. 

The reports which the finance committee renders to council are 
printed in pamphlet form and are available for the public, but there is 
little efifort to make an adequate distribution thereof to those who are or 
should be interested. The only other publicity is that which the local 
reporters choose to publish in their news columns. There is no public 
hearing by the board of control, although it was stated that reporters could 
be present if they so desired. There are no real public hearings by the 
finance committee. Although reporters are present as are also some 
citizens. Similarly, there are no public hearings by the common council, 
although some items are sometimes referred back to committees for 
further consideration. 

No appropriation bill should be adopted until a public hearing has 
been held thereon and the time and place of such hearing prominently 
advertised in advance in the local press, and also by a placard on the out¬ 
side of the City Hall. If the departmental requests are not printed in full 
in pamphlet form and distributed to the public, then one complete copy in 
manuscript form should be placed in the office of the city clerk or comp¬ 
troller where it will be available for examination by the public, and this 
fact should be well advertised. 

Adoption of Appropriations 

Many cities adopt their annual appropriations too late, i. e., after the 
fiscal year has begun. If there is any criticism of the date Norfolk adopts 


BUDGET PROCEDURE 


75 


its appropriation bill, it is because of its being too early. In a city no 
larger than Norfolk, there should be no necessity for adopting the appro¬ 
priation prior to May 1st when the fiscal year does not begin until July 
1st. Obviously the appropriation bill should be adopted before the taxe* 
are levied, but the entire calendar of dates might well be so adjusted that 
estimates are prepared and appropriations made closer to the time when 
they are to become effective. If the appropriations continued to be made 
two months before the beginning of the fiscal year, then there is special 
need for including in the city's budget scheme the allotment plan herein¬ 
after described. 


Form of Appropriations 

Not only are appropriation estimates set forth in much detail of 
classification, but the appropriations themselves are equally segregated. 
With respect to the first, no criticism is made—in fact, it is good proce¬ 
dure to have estimates prepared in much detail, but as to appropriations, 
the Bureau of Municipal Research contends that they should be made 
only by departments or main functions instead of by a much segregated 
classification. The Bureau holds that the expenditure of appropriations 
should be restricted by certain regulatory provisions included in the ap¬ 
propriation bill instead of by segregating the amounts into a large number 
of small items and restricting each to some particular use. It has been 
demonstrated many times and in many cities that a system of appro¬ 
priating in such detail or segregation of items as that used in Norfolk 
is a serious handicap to the administrative officers at the head of the 
departments of government. In Norfolk, this restriction by small appro¬ 
priations is unusually severe., ()f 192 appropriation items contained in 
the bill for 1915-16 for purposes other than personal service, 380 or 77 
per cent, were for $500 or less. 


26 were for $15 or less 


2o were 
18 were 

41 were 
62 were 
73 were 

42 were 
30 were 

7 were 
26 were 


for over 
for over 
for over 
for over 
for over 
for over 
’for over 
for over 
for $500 


$15 

25 

50 

75 

100 

200 

300 

100 


but 

but 

but 

but 

but 

but 

but 

but 


less than 
less than 
less than 
less than 
less than 
less than 
less than 
less than 


(exact) 


$25 

50 

75 

100 

200 

300 

400 

500 


380 

The only classifications which should be made in the appropriation 
for a department are such as: 

1. Salaries and wages. 

2. Supplies. 

3. Material. 

4. Equipment. 

5. Personal service by contract or open order. 

6. Gifts, grants or subventions to institutions. 

7. Fixed charges. 

8. Contingencies. 



76 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


In fact, (! and 7 would occur only once for the entire city and the use of 
5 and 8 would not be frequent. The charges against such appropriations 
as those suggested would be in the nature of expenditures or payments as 
distinguished from expenses or cost. All necessary control over salaries 
and wages should be secured by establishing a civil list at the beginning of 
each year which would limit the number of employees in each department, 
but would permit the department head to adjust his force as between 
bureaus, divisions or other organization units as might be desirable during 
the year to secure the best efficiency. Control and economy in tbe expen¬ 
diture of appropriations for material, supplies and equipment should be 
insured by adopting standard specifications and procedures, and including 
a clause in the appropriation bill whereby the expenditures must be 
governed by such specifications and procedures. 

The cost of conducting each separate function, subfunction, activity, 
etc., of a department should be controlled by maintaining a system of 
allotment accounts. These allotments should be made as follows: At 
the beginning of the year each department head would submit to the 
mayor or other chief executive a request for an allotment from his ap¬ 
propriation of enough to conduct his department during the first three 
months of the year. At the end of the quarter, he would render a report 
setting forth fully how the allotment was expended—as shown on the 
allotment ledger accounts and unit cost accounts maintained in his de¬ 
partment, and also the results obtained. Such statement of past expendi¬ 
tures and results would serve as a basis for the request which he would 
submit at the same time for an allotment to cover the succeeding three 
months. At the end of the second and each successive quarter, the same 
procedure would be followed. Thus a flexibility would be given to the 
appropriation system which does not now obtain, and the mayor or chief 
executive would also have a current administrative control over the 
affairs of each department. The expense and unit cost records of the 
several departments should be audited frequently by the comptroller 
or other central authority to determine the correctness thereof. 

The present classification of ledger accounts used in connection with 
appropriations is too much in detail for appropriation accounting, and 
not sufficiently functionalized for allotment accounting. For example, 
there are subfunctions in the police and fire departments which are not 
shown in the present classification. Some of the items of the present 
classification are for functions and activities, while others are for objects 
or kinds of commodities. The appropriation ledger accounts in the cen¬ 
tral accounting office of the city would be posted from payrolls and pur¬ 
chase order vouchers, whereas the allotment ledger accounts in the de¬ 
partments would be posted from time sheets, stores reports, etc. The al¬ 
lotment ledgers would furnish the detailed information to be included in 
the annual departmental estimates. 

The above change in classification and methods of appropriating is 
recommended because (1) it will aid the various department officials by 
removing tbe restrictions of segregated appropriations with which they 
are now handicapped and thereby enable them to render more effective 
service, (2) it will facilitate a current administrative control by the chief 
executive, and (3) prevent the present practice of granting supplemental 
appropriations. It is realized that the comptroller has devoted much time 


BUDGET PROCEDURE 


77 


and thought to building up the present classification. He is deserving of 
much credit for his work. Mogt of the cities in the United States have 
not as good a classification. It is also realized that the value of each clas¬ 
sification is cumulative from year to year, hence no changes should be 
made except for very good reason. It is believed, however, that the 
above reasons are more than sufficient to justify the change recommended. 

Supplemental Appropriations 

Supplemental appropriations are made from time to time during 
the year. Such appropriations are made from revenue not otherwise ap¬ 
propriated and from moneys borrowed—at least that is the theory. How¬ 
ever, it is entirely possible for council in making supplemental appro¬ 
priations to exceed the revenues available. As a matter of fact, the unen¬ 
cumbered balances of appropriations which lapse into the general treasury 
about ofifset the supplemental appropriations made during the year. Cor¬ 
rect procedure would provide for applying all unencumbered balances at 
the end of each fiscal year in reduction of the amount of taxes necessary 
to be raised during the ensuing year. 

Through the custom of granting supplemental appropriations, it fre¬ 
quently transpires that requests which are refused at the beginning of 
the year, when the annual appropriation bill is being prepared, subse¬ 
quently pop up, and, when public attention is not directed thereto, are 
granted. 

The impossibility of foreseeing at the beginning of the year all 
of the contingencies which will arise during the year is recognized. To 
avoid the evils of the present practice of making supplemental appropria¬ 
tions, it is recommended that the city of Norfolk adopt the plan of alloting 
appropriations each quarter as already recommended herein. An alterna¬ 
tive for the purpose of avoiding supplemental appropriations would be to 
include in the appropriation bill a contingent fund from which could be 
allotted from time to time during the year such additional amounts as 
were needed by the various departments, restrictions as to use of the 
contingent fund being incorporated in the appropriation bill. 

The appropriation bill adopted at the beginning of each year should, 
except in rare cases, be final. The appropriations for 1915-16 contain a 
contingent item but it amounts to only $3,000, and, being under the juris¬ 
diction of the board of control, can be used only for those departments and 
offices subordinate thereto. It should not be possible under the charter 
for the council to grant supplemental appropriations except for real 
emergencies, and these latter should be defined in the charter to cover 
only food, conflagration, pestilence, etc. 

Budget Content 

The annual budget of the city of Norfolk should function as (1) a 
medium of informing the electorate relative to the city’s finances, its 
transactions during the past year, present condition, and plans for the 
future - (2) an aid in making appropriations and in other local legislation, 
and (3) an aid to the mayor and other executive officers in the perfor¬ 
mance of their administrative duties. In order that the city’s budget may 
serve these three purposes, it should contain: 


78 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


1— A balance sheet showing what the city owes and 

what it owns. 

2— A fund statement showing condition of the various 

appropriations—the amount of appropriations 
remaining unencumbered, and the amount of 
revenues remaining unappropriated. 

3— A statement of past operations and an estimate of 

next year’s operations, showing in comparative 
form as a basis for judgment the revenues and 
expenses which accrued during each of the pre¬ 
ceding two years, and the estimated accruals for 
the next year, the revenues classified according to 
sources and the expenses classified according to 
functions and subfunctions. The statement of 
expenses of past years should be supplemented 
by detailed statements of unit costs of all kinds 
of services for which it is possible to prepare 
such costs. 

4— Explanatory text relative to the conditions, rea¬ 

sons, etc., connected with the estimates for the 
ensuing year ; also a work program showing the 
undertakings to be begun and those to be com¬ 
pleted during the next year and each of several 
years in advance. 

n —An appropriation bill containing accounts and all 
necessary phraseology relating to specifications, 
requirements, and conditions governing the ex¬ 
penditure thereof. 

6—Proposed measures for revenue-raising and for bor¬ 
rowing. 

The city comptroller has already developed his accounts to a point 
where by budget-making time in 191G he should be able to furnish all the 
information needed to prepare a complete budget as above outlined. 

An Executive Budget 

In the above connection it should be remembered when drafting a 
new charter that if there is to be a centralized executive and he is to 
exercise a real leadership, it must be he who prepares and submits the 
annual budget to the legislative branch of the city’s government. This can 
be facilitated by placing the city’s bookkeeping and accounting functions 
in the hands of an official appointed by the chief executive. In other 
words, the city auditor should be elected by the people, or in a commission- 
manager plan, by the commission, but the city accountant should be 
appointed by the chief executive.* 

*In commission government there is no centralized executive, and 
the city accountant might be elected by the commission, or his duties 
combined with those of auditor and be elected by the people; the latter 
should in either case elect the auditor. 



BUDGET PROCEDURE 


79 


Instead of merely being- an appropriation ordinance, or other docu¬ 
ment, the annual Norfolk budget should (1) be a plan for financing the 
city’s government for a year, (2) be prepared by its chief executive, who, 
under the charter, should be, in every sense of the word, a responsible 
executive, and (3) be submitted by him to a representative body whose 
approval and authorization are necessary before the plan can be made 
operative. This definition should be considered in connection with the 
six factors already indicated herein which enter into and comprise a 
budget. These budget requirements should be remembered when revising 
the city’s charter, because—First, unless the charter requires that the 
budget shall contain the factors enumerated herein it will be nothing more 
than the document which it has always been; Second, unless the charter 
requires that the departments be logically grouped and correlated, and 
the heads thereof be made appointive by the chief executive, and he be 
required to submit his financial measures and plans to the legislative 
branch of the government and to defend them in person there, and if 
necessary go to the people for approval or disapproval, Norfolk will have 
no responsible executive nor one who can exercise leadership; Third, un¬ 
less the charter requires that the legislative branch of the government be 
comprised of members elected on some such plan as that popularly called 
“proportional representation,” Norfolk’s legislative body will not be truly 
representative. 






INDEBTEDNESS 


81 


INDEBTEDNESS 


(6) 




























INDEBTEDNESS 


8.5 


INDEBTEDNESS 


Temporary Loans 

At nearly all times there are outstanding against the city of Norfolk 
what are termed “temporary loans." These loans are made for two prin¬ 
cipal purposes—(1) to secure money each year to assist in meeting the 
current expenses of government pending the time when the annual license 
and tax collections are made, and (2) to secure money to pay contractors, 
or otherwise to pay for public improvements pending the sale of long-term 
bonds, which have been authorized but not yet issued. With respect to the 
loans issued in anticipation of license and tax collections, a study of the 
loans made from February, 1914, up to the date of this survey (Septem¬ 
ber, 1915) shows that they are really issued in anticipation of tax collec¬ 
tions in that their retirement is dependent entirely on that source of reve¬ 
nue, and not on license revenues. The latter become due the first of May 
each year, but are consumed in meeting current liabilities. 

The tabulation of temporary loans on the following page shows that 
whereas many loans were paid off in May and June, after the license 
collections were received, new loans were nevertheless issued imme¬ 
diately in lieu thereof, and these latter were not retired until the October 
tax collections were made. Such a condition always raises the ques¬ 
tion whether it would not be better for a city to collect taxes at the 
time it begins to spend the tax money each year and thus avoid the 
necessity of borrowing. As applied to Norfolk this would seem: that in¬ 
stead of waiting until October to collect taxes, they would become due 
July 1st, so long, as the city continues to have its fiscal year begin 
then. If, however, the fiscal year is made to begin January 1st, 
then tax collections should begin at the same time. Readjustment of 
several of the other dates incident to the local tax laws would have to be 
made, but the plan would have the advantage of saving the city several 
thousands of dollars of interest each year, or making it available for other 
uses where it is more needed. 

An alternative to the above plan would be to have taxes collected in 
two installments; one at the beginning of the year and the other in the 
middle of the year. This plan would also have the merit of bringing 
money into the treasury at the time when it is needed. Several cities col¬ 
lect taxes in this wav. If a person pays a second installment at the be¬ 
ginning of the year together with his first installment, he is allowed a 
discount on the second, but if he fails to pay his first until his second is 
due, he is required to pay a penalty on the first. The two-installment plan 
has the merits of leaving half of the money in the hands of the taxpayers 
for six months longer than if it were all collected at the beginning of the 
year, and also of lightening the burden of small taxpayers because they 
can pay in two installments much easier than in a single installment. 
The present flow of cash is shown by the table on page 8(5 (Monthly 
Revenue Collections). 

Instead of having all licenses and business taxes fall due May 1st, 
licenses should become due at intervals during the year according to 
the several kinds thereof as explained in that part of this report relat¬ 
ing to license inspector. 


84 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


TEMPORARY LOANS ISSUED DURING 1914 AND 1915 AS SHOWN 
BY COMPTROLLER’S RECORDS SEPTEMBER 15, 1915 


Date of Issue 

_1914_ 

Feb. 25 
Mar. 2 


Date Paid 


Purpose 


Mar. 10 

Mar. 10 
Mar. 16 


April 1 
April 6 
April 27 

April 29 

May 4 
May 15 
June 30 
June 30 
June 30 
July 3 
July 30 
Aug. 3 
Aug. 22 
Aug. 10. 
Sept. 8 
Sept. 12 
Sopt. 19 
Nov. 2 


Nov. 21 


1915 
Mar. 1 

Mar. 2 

Mar. 11 
Mar. 11 
Mar. 12 
Mar. 25 
Mar. 25 
April 21 
April 21 
April 29 


Sept. 26, 


Sept. 26, 

Aug. 10, 
Aug. 10, 

Sept. 26, 

June 3, 
June 3, 
fune 3, 
'$40,000 
Sept. 26, 
June 3, 
Sept. 26, 
Oct. 23, 
Oct. 23, 
Oct. 23, 
Oct. 21, 
Oct. 28, 
Oct. 21, 
Oct. 23, 
Oct. 27, 
Oct. 28, 
Oct. 28, 
Sept. 26, 
Tune 8, 


June 8, 


1914 School building 
Armory 

fHardy Ave. Improvement 
1914-{Church St. Improvement 
[Distributing Water System 
1914 Olney Road Extension 
1914 Olney Road Extension 
Church St. Improvement 
4 / Bank St. Improvement 
1914 Current Expenses 
1914 Current Expenses 
1914 Current Expenses 
paid )... 

1914 {-Water main, etc. 

1914 Current Expenses 
1914 School Purposes 
1914 Current Expenses 
1914 Current Expenses 
1914 Current Expenses 
1914 Current Expenses 
.1914 Current Expenses 
1914 Current Expenses 
1914 Current Expenses 
1914 Current Expenses 
1914 Current Expenses 
1914 Current Expenses 

1914 Olney Road Extension 

1915 W. Ghent, etc., Improvement 
fFor Improvement of Thetford 

St. under ordinance appro- 
1915 J priating $58,820 for certain 
Street Improvements. Res. 
I Aug. 28, 1914 


June 

June 

fune 


8 , 

8 , 

8 , 


June 21, 
June 21, 
June 17, 
June 17, 
May 29. 


1915 Water Meter Extension 
r j Water Meter Extension 
I W. Ghent Improvement 
Street Improvements 
Park Place—Current Expenses 
Olney Road Extension 
Current Expenses 
Current Expenses 
Current Expenses 
Current Expenses 
Current Expenses 


1915'i 

1915 


1915 

1915 

1915 

1915 

1915 


Rate 

Amount 

5% 

$25,000.00 

5% 

27,000.00 

>5% 

27,000.00 

J 5% 

25,000.00 

5 % 

25,000.00 

\s% 

27,000.00 

5% 

30,000.00 

5% 

30,000.00 

5 % 

30,000.00 

5 % 

55,000.00 

5% 

30,000.00 

5% 

7,500.00 

5% 

30,000.00 

5% 

15,000.00 

5% 

25,000.00 

5% 

30,000.00 

5% 

30,000.00 

5% 

50,000.00 

5% 

25,000.00 

5% 

30,000.00 

5% 

15,000.00 

5% 

50,000.00 

5% 

50,000.00 

4J^% 

16,300.00 

* 

3,000.10 

J 

5% 

\o% 

50,000.00 

50,000.00 

5% 

50,000.00 

5% 

5,000.00 

4J4% 

10,000.00 

3%% 

25,000.00 

3V 4 % 

25,000.00 

3K% 

25,000.00 

3/ 2 % 

25,000.00 


25.000.00 























INDEBTEDNESS 


85 

Date of Issue 
1914 

Date Paid 

Purpose 

Rate 

Amount 

April 29 

May 29,1915 

Current Expenses 

3^2% 

25,000.00 

May 5 


Current Expenses 

5% 

25,000.00 

May 19 


Current Expenses 

5% 

30,000.00 

May 28 


Current Expenses 

5% 

20,000.00 

June 30 


Park Place—Current Expenses 5% 

15,000.00 

July 1 


Current Expenses 

5% 

30,000.00 

July 21 


Park Place—Current Expenses 5% 

5,000.00 

Inly 28 


Current Expenses 

■W» 

25,000.00 

July 28 


Current Expenses 

3 l A% 

25,000.00 

Aug. 12 


Current Expenses 

3’/4% 

25,000.00 

Aug. 12 


Current Exoenses 

3*4% 

25,000.00 

Sept. 8 


Current Expenses 

3% 

25,000.00 

Sept. 8 


Current Expenses 

3% 

25,000.00 

Sept. 13 


Current Expenses 

3% 

25.090.00 

Sept. 13 


Current Expenses 

3% 

25,000.00 


With respect to temporary loans which are subsequently funded by 
long-term bonds, the method is desirable so long - as it is properly adminis¬ 
tered. Instead of selling- long-term bonds and allowing the money to lie in 
bank at a low rate of interest for several months until needed, while 
the city continues to pay a high rate of interest on the amount of bonds 
issued, it is better economy to issue short-term notes from time to time 
in small amounts as the money is actually needed and then when a suf¬ 
ficient amount of such notes has accumulated to justify the sale of bonds, 
to do so and retire the notes from the proceeds of such sale. 

Bonded Debt 

The bonded debt of the city of Norfolk, June 30, 1915, (exclusive 
of $500,000 of certificates of debt and bonds authorized and unissued) as 
set forth in the comptroller’s report for the year ending at that date 
(typewritten copy for printer) was $9,591,550, as follows: 

$8,686,550 : corporate 
905,000 Park Place 


$9,591,550 

This was all in the form of long-term bonds—practically all of the issues 
being for thirty years. The maximum limitation of the present charter 
is thirty-four years. This charter provision and the methods followed 
pursuant thereto are defective in that insufficient attempt has been made 
to co-ordinate the life of the bonds with the life of the assets purchased 
from the sale thereof. Although it is obviously much safer to issue thirty- 
year bonds instead of forty or fifty-year bonds, nevertheless, when thirty- 
year bonds are used to acquire assets which have a life of only ten, fifteen 
or twenty years, the transactions savor of unsound finance. 

When preparing a new charter provision should be made that so far 
as possible no bonds may be issued for a period exceeding the life of the 
property to be acquired. This result can best be attained by incorporating 
in the charter a brief schedule setting forth the various classes of prop- 



















86 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


MONTHLY REVENUE COLLECTIONS DURING 1914-15 



Taxes 

Water 

Licenses 

Misc. 

Total 

July .. 

.... $18,453 

$46,822 

$20,093 

$12,421 

$97,789 

August . 

. . . 12,759 

3,546 

4,073 

7,645 

28,023 

September .. . 

. . . 10,631 

1,426 

5,024 

7,642 

24,723 

October . 

. . . 526,948 

46,703 

363 

5,408 

579,422 

November . . . 

. . . 275,597 

4,969 

13,215 

57,170 

350,951 

December . . . 

... 19,931 

2,350 

2,679 

9,512 

34,472 

January . 

9,887 

47,194 

5,929 

7,740 

70,750 

February .... 

. . . 12,332 

3,808 

939 

40,081 

57,160 

March . 

. . . 11,305 

1,345 

494 

7,931 

21.075 

April . 

.... 10,697 

29,952 

1.107 

9,370 

51,126 

May . 

9,927 

5,328 

132,382 

8,978 

156,615 

fune . 

... 11,613 

1,249 

196,835 

20.117 

229,814 


$930,080 

$194,692 

$383,133 

$194,015 

$1,701,920 


erties for which ten-year bonds, fifteen year bonds, twenty-year bonds 
etc., may respectively be issued, up to say, thirty years. The 1914 Leg¬ 
islature of the state of Massachusetts adopted a law which contains such 
a schedule and it is mandatory on not only the state, but also on all 
cities and counties therein. The same principle was recognized by the 
drafters of the new constitution recently proposed in the state of New 
York. 

Another defect in the method of issuing instrument of indebtedness 
in Norfolk is th*e failure to provide for the payment thereof serially from 
year to year. A reading of the state constitution and the city charter 
fails to disclose any provision which would prevent the city from issuing 
serial bonds. Failure to provide for retirement of bonds serially each 
year frequently results in a subsequent failure to provide adequate sinking- 
funds. This, in fact, is just what has resulted in Norfolk, as pointed out 
hereinafter. Throughout the country sinking funds are becoming obso¬ 
lete as a method of paying indebtedness, because, however well they may 
be administered, it is a cumbersome method of accomplishing the desired 
result. Not only is there the initial obligation to keep the funds properly 
invested, but equitable assessments upon the taxpayers during the period 
of the loan involve complicated mathematical computations if the debt is 
to be paid at maturity. Evidence is abundant in cities, counties and states 
throughout the country of funds to which proper contributions have not 
been made from year to year, with the result that upon maturity of the 
loans these funds were found to be short of the amounts necessary to 
pay the debts for which they were created. 

The serial method of paying debt not only obviates the administra¬ 
tive requirements of the sinking fund method, but it also is cheaper and 
imposes a lighter burden upon the taxpayers. Moreover, its operation 
is so simple that it is easily understood by the average citizen. 

The Massachusetts legislature of 1914, which provided for limiting 
* Exclusive of refunds, sales, etc., which aggregated $51,271. 






























INDEBTEDNESS 


87 


the life of bonds to the life of the assets, also passed a law that neither 
the state nor the cities or counties within the state might issue sinking 
fund bonds—that only serial forms were to be issued. The chief statisti¬ 
cian of the state bureau of statistics which has supervision over the 
issuance of all local bonds says that contrary to the expectation of many 
there has been a larger demand and better prices have been secured for 
the new serials than for the sinking fund bonds. 

In this connection it is worthy of note that the city of New York lateh 
obtained legislative permission to issue serial bonds because it would 
save the taxpayers’ money. The city recently marketed $4(5,000,000 of 
fifty-year sinking fund bonds and $25,000,000 of serial bonds maturing 
in from one to fifteen years. Both bore 4^2 per cent, interest, and al¬ 
though many expected the long-term sinking fund bonds to sell at the 
highest rate, they brought only an average price of $101,253, whereas the 
fifteen-year serials averaged $101,30(5. 

The proposed new constitution for the state of New York also stipu¬ 
lated that all bonds issued subsequent to the adoption thereof should 
be payable serially. 

Sinking Funds 

On June 30, 1915, the sinking fund commissioners held $1,445,042 
to be used toward the payment of the city’s bonded debt. 

There is only one sound and sane method of building up sinking funds, 
and that is to do so on an actuarial basis. This principle is now generally 
recognized as fundamental to sound financing. The administration of a 
sinking fund is a scientific problem and demands scientific treatment. 

I'he cardinal rule to be followed is that such an amount should be paid 
into the sinking fund each year as will not only distribute the burden over 
the period of the life of the bonds for which the sinking funds are estab¬ 
lished, but be such that at maturity of the bonds the sinking funds will 
contain an amount comprised of the annual installments plus the annual 
increment—sufficient to pay the bonds. The annual installments should 
not produce either a surplus or a deficit. 

• 

The methods followed in building up Norfolk’s sinking funds have 
entirely ignored the principle of acturial computation. The annual install¬ 
ments paid into the sinking funds have been arbitrarily fixed at / 2 of 1 
per cent, of the original issues (exclusive of water but inclusive of Park 
Place), and l T / 2 per cent, of renewals or refunding issues. Sinking fund 
installments on account of water bonds have been arbitrarily fixed at 1 
per cent, on original issues and V/ 2 per cent, on renewals. Although 
the serial method is preferable to the sinking fund method of retiring- 
bonds and should be adhered to in all issues floated hereafter, it is never¬ 
theless essential that adequate sinking fund provision be made for retiring 
at maturity all of the bonds now outstanding. To neglect to make such 
provision will mean that many of the issues will have to be refunded 
because the sinking funds will not be sufficiently large to pay all of the 
bonds at maturity. Refunding of bonds means that the burden of pay¬ 
ment is shifted to future taxpayers. This is most inequitable, because in 
many cases the assets purchased with the bonds will have long since disap¬ 
peared. 


88 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


An examination of the bonds now outstanding shows that nearly 
two and one-half million or approximately one-fourth of the entire bonded 
debt are bonds which have been issued as renewals or refunding bonds. 
It is true that these bonds were issued at a lower rate of interest than 
the original bonds, and on the surface this would appear to be a benefit, 
but as a matter of fact it simply means that a future generation of tax¬ 
payers will be called upon to pay a debt which should have been paid 
by the taxpayers who reaped the benefit of the asset. These refunding 
bonds were practically all issued for a further period of thirty years, 
irrespective of the purposes for which they were originally issued. 

In connection with both original and refunding bonds, attention is 
called to the fact that the comptroller’s report does not set forth dates 
of issue. No debt statement is complete without such information.* 

Sinking Fund Accounts 

An essential of proper sinking fund administration is that there 
shall be maintained a complete circle of sinking fund accounts, and that 
there shall be produced at stated periods a complete sinking fund balance 
sheet. The accounts maintained should make it possible to show not only 
all of the sinking fund assets, but to show on the liability side reserves 
for the exact amount which should be on hand at that particular time, 
irrespective of whether the assets actually do equal it, exceed it, or fall 
short thereof. In short, a sinking fund balance sheet should reflect the 
exact amount of surplus or deficit at that particular time. The accounts 
maintained for the Norfolk sinking fund do not furnish the information 
necessary to prepare such a balance sheet. 

Debt Limit 

On June 30, 1915, the city of Norfolk was nearly two million dollars 
inside of its constitutional debt limit. This will be somewhat increased 
by the quinquennial valuation of land in 1915. It is important for the 
financial welfare of the city that its bonded indebtedness continue to be 
kept well within the borrowing margin—that there be a wide and unused 
latitude between them, because of the unusually high limitation which is 
permissible under the constitution, i. e., 18 per cent, of the last assessed 
valuation of real estate. Although 18 per cent is in itself higher than 
most states, it affords even more leeway in Norfolk because of the fact 
that it is now based on only two-thirds to three-fourths of the real value 
of the property. 

Norfolk already has a high per capita debt. As shown in the table 
on the page immediately following, this debt ranks fifth among the 
.twenty-one cities in the United States of similar size. With respect to 
southern cities of anywhere near its size, Norfolk’s per capita debt is 
exceeded only by New Orleans as shown by the table on the second page 
following. 


* Since the above was written the comptroller states that the annual 
report now being prepared, and also subsequent reports, will contain such 
dates. 



INDEBTEDNESS 


89 


PER CAPITA INDEBTEDNESS LESS SINKING FUND ASSETS 
OF ALL CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES BETWEEN 
80,000 AND 100,000 (APPROXIMATELY) AS OF 

1913 

Figures from Bureau of Census Report on Wealth, Debt and 

Taxation 


1 

City 

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma . . . 

Population 
.. . 78,960 

Debt Per Capita 
$129.85 

•> 

Tacoma, Washington. 

.. . 98,742 

121.91 

o 

o 

Houston, Texas . 

. . . 89,721 

103.48 

4 

Yonkers, New York . 

. . . 90,156 

101.39 

5 

Norfolk, Virginia. 

85,005 

96.84 

6 

Duluth, Minnesota. 

.. . 86,749 

81.06 

i 

Kansas City, Kansas . 

.. . 87,150 

80.27 

8 

Fort Worth, Texas . 

.. . 89,460 

59.63 

9 

Springfield, Massachusetts . . . 

. . . 97,654 

59.41 

10 

Wilmington, Delaware . 

. . . 90,953 

45.22 

11 

Waterbury, Connecticut . 

. . . 80,289 

44.74 

12 

Camden, New Jersey. 

. .. 100,581 

44.65 

13 

Lynn, Massachusetts . 

96,099 

40.72 

14 

Elizabeth, New Jersey. 

. . . 80,272 

38.82 

15 

Youngstown, Ohio . 

Lawrence, Massachusetts .... 

.. . 89,949 

38.62 

16 

. . . 93,471 

31.55 

17 

Des Moines, Iowa . 

. . . 94,238 

31.39 

18 

St. Joseph, Missouri. 

. . . 81,450 

28.22 

19 

Utica, New York. 

. . . 80,246 

25.59 

20 

Somerville, Massachusetts . . . . 

. . . 82,302 

24.59 

21 

Reading, Pennsylvania . 

.... 101,628 

20.14 























90 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


PER CAPITA INDEBTEDNESS LESS SINKING FUND ASSETS OF 

SOUTHERN CITIES AS OF 1913 


Figures from Bureau of Census 

Report on 

Wealth, Debt and 


Taxation 



City 

Population 

Debt Per Capita 

1 

New Orleans, Louisiana . 

. 355.958 

$123.25 

2 

Norfolk, Virginia. 

85,005 

96.84 

3 

Montgomery, Alabama . 

. 41,024 

93.63 

4 

Knoxville, Tennessee . 

. 37,549 

90.67 

5 

Lynchburg, Virginia . 

. 31,275 

86.83 

(I 

Memphis, Tennessee . 

. 140,351 

85.94 

7 

Mobile, Alabama . 

54,610 

69.97 

8 

Charleston, South Carolina. 

. 59,815 

69.01 

9 

Richmond, Virginia . 

. 133,185 

68.55 

10 

Charlotte, North Carolina. 

. 37,015 

67.2-1 

11 

Chattanooga, Tennessee . 

55,578 

60.09 

12 

Jackson, Mississippi . 

25,629 

59.74 

13 

Covington, Kentucky . 

. 55,272 

52.19 

14 

Birmingham, Alabama . 

. 158,200 

50.23 

15 

Nashville, Tennessee . 

. 113,822 

50.22 

16 

Louisville, Kentucky . 

. 233,216 

50.17 

17 

Portsmouth, Virginia . 

36,496 

49.92 

18 

Savannah, Georgia . 

. 67,473 

44.68 

19 

Columbia, South Carolina. 

. 32,954 

40.95 

20 

Roanoke. Virginia . 

. 39,219 

10.03 

21 

Newport, Kentucky . 

. 31,312 

38.64 

22 

Tampa, Florida . 

. 46,792 

35.43 

23 

Jacksonville, Florida . 

. 67,209 

35.14 

24 

Lexington, Kentucky. 

. 37,935 

32.13 

25 

Atlanta, Georgia. 

. 173,713 

29.38 

26 

Wheeling, West Virginia. 

. 42,537 

26.33 

27 

Shreveport, Louisiana . 

. 31,744 

24.28 

28 

Huntington, West Virginia. 

. 39,459 

20.70 






























PURCHASING METHODS 


91 


PURCHASING METHODS 






PURCHASING METHODS 


93 


PURCHASING METHODS. 

Centralized Purchasing- 

Centralization of purchasing- exists to a certain extent in the 
aty government of Norfolk, but there are a number of departments 
which as yet have not been included in the central purchasing scheme. 

he piesent method of purchasing has proved to be advantageous and 
it should be extended to include all of the departments. 

Under the present plan of government, the appointment of a 
purchasing agent as an additional city officer does not seem essential. 
The board of control, meeting every day, is enabled to eliminate delays, 
and the securing of bids and award of orders are supervised by one 
member of the board who is in effect a purchasing agent. 

With the adoption of a new charter providing for centralized 
executive authority, commission or city manager, the purchasing of 
supplies, etc., should be vested in a purchasing agent whose duties 
should include not merely the purchasing of all supplies, materials and 
equipment, but also the preparation of standard specifications where 
possible and the compilation of supply lists upon which quotations may 
be asked from time to time. 

To Reduce Amount of Work 

The method of securing prices should be modified so as to reduce 
the time required therefor. Each individual order totaling over $100, 
and, in fact, the majority of those under this amount, are advertised by 
posting a notice on the public bulletin board, and by sending invitations 
to a number of representative dealers. This plan is excellent, but it is 
believed that the number of such orders might be reduced. The 
dealers list is large and the number of bids received per request average 
more than three. Competition is keen, as indicated by the bids received 
and corroborated by some of the dealers. During 1914-1915, 085 
contracts were made by the board of control, practically all being for 
supplies. 

The introduction of a detailed annual estimate of supplies needed 
by each department would reduce the number of orders requiring in¬ 
vitational bids. This estimate should not only be required but followed 
up by a tabulation of the kinds of supplies actually purchased during the 
year. From the two lists a general list of all kinds of supplies used by 
the city could be prepared. By dividing the kinds of supplies properly 
into groups, quotations could be secured for various periods varying 
from one month to a year according to whether the prices of the 
particular commodities were stable or fluctuating. With these quota¬ 
tions on file, special invitations for bids would not be necessary except 
on large orders where keen competition is desired. These lists would, 
in addition, be a great aid to an intelligent consideration of the annual 
appropriation requests. 

A study of the supply list would show which supplies could 
economically be purchased in one order for use by all departments. 
Coal and cement are now purchased for most departments in large 
orders, but there are other supplies for which orders from all depart- 


94 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


merits could be lumped in a single contract and deliveries made to the 
departments by the contractors or, in some cases, be stored and delivered 
by the city. 

Specifications 

Standard specifications have not been prepared. Coal for the 
water bureau and City Home has been purchased on specifications 
based upon thermal units, while the coal purchases for the sewer 
pumping stations and buildings have been based upon moisture, ash. 
volatile matter and sulphur with no mention of heat value. Tests are 
provided in each case, but the specifications of the department do not 
set a standard. They require the bidder to submit an analysis which, 
if accepted, will be the basis of any tests. The city should by all 
means determine its own standard and all bituminous and semi- 
bituminous coal should be purchased upon the same specifications. 

Fire hose is also purchased on dealers’ specifications. This practice 
should be discontinued and a standard fire hose specification adopted 
by the city. Cities buying on dealers’ specifications usually pay high 
prices, while those which purchase on specifications providing very 
rigid tests have been able to reduce the price upon 2/2 inch cotton 
rubber-lined hose from $1.20 per foot to $.48 per foot. Undoubtedly 
Norfolk could lower its price on hose considerably if it advertised for 
bids on its own specifications. The Norfolk tests requiring only that 
the hose stand a pressure of four hundred pounds per square inch are 
of little value alone. They should provide definite physical and 
chemical tests of the rubber, and physical tests of the jacket and the entire 
hose. These tests may be made by the city testing laboratory or they may 
be performed by private testing laboratories or by the national board of 
fire underwriters. 

Specifications should be prepared for all supplies of a staple nature 
and which are in general use by the city such as oils, lumber, fuel, 
forage, certain kinds of food, etc. It is essential that requests for quota¬ 
tions which are made periodically for many kinds of supplies be accom¬ 
panied by specifications. The preparation of standard specifications 
should be one of the first steps to improve the city’s purchasing methods. 

Testing Laboratory 

The equipment of the laboratory of the city engineer’s department 
should be amplified so that it will serve as a standard testing laboratory 
for supplies and materials purchased for the entire city government. 
Having adopted standard written specifications, adequate physical and 
chemical tests of deliveries should be made before payment to determine 
whether such deliveries conform with the specifications of purchase. 


CITY CLERK 


CITY CLERK 



















CITY CLERK 


97 


CITY CLERK 

The city clerk is clerk not only of each branch of the common 
council, but also of the various committees thereof and of the board of 
control. He also does a large amount of work incident to preparing 
the annual appropriation estimates, which latter should more properly 
devolve upon the comptroller’s office. 

The office of the city clerk appeared to be very busy. This condi¬ 
tion is but natural and to be expected. It is due mainly to the complex¬ 
ity of the form of government, to the amount and character of proced¬ 
ure involved in the various legislative and administrative hoards, and to 
the resultant matters of detail incident to transacting public business 
under such untoward conditions. 

Several years ago, the city clerk added extra employees to his 
staff for the purpose of indexing the proceedings of the city’s legislative 
branch. This work has proceeded slowly and is still only partly 
completed. 

With a simpler form of government the staff of the clerk’s office 
should be much decreased. There are altogether too many people in 
this office for a city the size of Norfplk. Unless the indexing referred 
to is completed in the near future, it might be cheaper to let it out by 
contract. Unless care is exercised, the cost of this work will exceed 
its practical value. There is at least room for improvement in the 
method which is being used in preparing the card indices. 

The city clerk’s office should serve also as a bureau of informa¬ 
tion. It serves this purpose to a considerable extent at the present 
time, but a sign to that effect should be prominently displayed at the 
entrance to the office. The city clerk is in a better position than any 
other official of the government to answer questions relative thereto. 

If commission or commission-manager government is adopted, the 
office of city clerk might well be consolidated with the office of auditor. 


(7) 



THE COMPTROLLER 


99 


THE COMPTROLLER 




COMPTROLLER 


101 


COMPTROLLER 

Accounts 


Centralized Accounting 

At the present time appropriation, bond fund, and contract 
accounting is conducted not only in the comptroller’s office, but also 
in the accounting offices of the departments to which the appropria¬ 
tions, bond funds and contracts relate. This duplication of work is 
unnecessary. Many cities have recognized the advantages of centraliz¬ 
ing practically all of their financial accounting in the office of the central 
accounting officer, which in Norfolk is now the comptroller’s office. 
Since not only all payrolls, but also all claims of every character must 
clear through this office and be recorded there, it would entail very little 
additional labor to so arrange the comptroller’s records that all similar 
records in the outside departments might be eliminated. Not only 
would this plan effect a saving of time with respect to keeping duplicate 
records, but it would also obviate entirely the condition which always 
tends to exist where there is decentralized accounting, i. e., discrep¬ 
ancies in the balance of accounts as between the comptroller’s office 
and the outside departments. Instead of the present practice of 
monthly statements being prepared by the departments and sent to 
the comptroller as a basis for reconciling whatever differences may 
have developed in the accounts, the comptroller should prepare and 
send out statements which would inform the departments of their 
unencumbered and unexpected balances. Such statements are rarely 
a real need to the various department heads until toward the close of 
a year when the appropriations are nearing exhaustion and hence 
quarterly statements would suffice for most of the departments during 
the first six months of the year. Such of the departments as desired 
monthly statements throughout the year should of course be accom¬ 
modated. 

The principal reason why outside departments usually feel called 
upon to keep a separate set of accounts is that they may know at all 
times the unexpended balances of their funds, and thus be prevent¬ 
ed from exceeding the amounts thereof. However, the comptroller 
has now developed his accounts and procedure to a point where there 
is no longer any danger of a department head exceeding the amount 
of the appropriation allotted him. At the time contracts and purchase 
orders are executed they are posted on the comptroller’s records as 
contingent liabilities against the proper appropriations. Hence it 
is that, after the adoption of centralized accounting, even though 
a department head may insist on knowing currently the amount of 
his unencumbered and unexpected balances of appropriations and 
bond fund, all that is necessary for him to do is to operate a single 
memorandum “tickler" record in conjunction with the monthly or quarterly 
statements received from the comptroller’s office. 

Elsewhere in this report it is recommended that with the abolition 
of the board of control the office of purchasing agent should be 
established. No contract should be permitted to be executed or 
purchase order issued until the comptroller (or other central account- 


102 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


ing officer) shall have validated it to show that'Sufficient funds 
are available and unencumbered to cover the amount thereof. To 
facilitate such validation the office of the purchasing agent should 
adjoint that of the central accounting office, and the bookkeeper of the lat¬ 
ter office, who is in charge of the appropriation and bond ledgers, should be 
placed at a window connecting the offices. 

Expense Accounts 

Statements of expenses are the only proper basis on which to 
determine unit cost of service rendered by the various departments 
or to make estimates for annual appropriations. No expense accounts 
are maintained in the comptroller’s office of the city of Norfolk and 
very few in the departments. As distinguished from expenditure 
accounts, those relating to expense set forth the cost of government 
on a consumption basis instead of on the basis of payment, i. e., 
they show the cost of services rendered and supplies consumed irre¬ 
spective of the time when they are paid for. It is immaterial whether 
expense ledgers be installed in each of the departments, or whether 
all expense accounting be centralized in the central accounting office 
of the city, but it is very essential that adequate expense accounts 
be established somewhere and be under the control of the general 
ledger in the central accounting office. For example, even at the 
hospital the per capita costs now reported and on which the head 
of the institution must depend, are based on payments made and are 
irrespective of the month, quarter, or even year when the supplies 
were actually consumed. 

Revenue Accounts 

The comptroller has developed his system of revenue accounts 
further than is usually found in similar offices. The system as 
a whole is satisfactory, except for such defects as are noted subse¬ 
quently herein with respect to auditing. 

Financial Stationery 

Although the central system of accounting and auditing control 
over revenue accruals which creates accounts receivable is satisfac¬ 
tory, there is a certain class of revenue over which the accounting and 
auditing control is inadequate. This latter class comprises revenue, 
the accrual of which is coincident with the collection of cash, and 
includes licenses, permits, etc. Whereas an accounting and auditing 
control of the former class of accruals can be established by register¬ 
ing such documents as franchises, leases, tax rolls, water bills and 
miscellaneous other bills, the only effective control which can be ob¬ 
tained over the latter class is by use of “controlled” financial stationery. 

Applying such a system to Norfolk, the comptroller would be 
the only person authorized to purchase license, permit, and receipt 
document forms. Such forms would be printed on safety paper and 
the quality thereof certified by the manufacturer to the engraver or 
printer, and by him to the comptroller. The latter would charge 
himself in a financial stationery stock ledged with the document 
numbers of the quantity received. As requisitions are received from 
the various issuing officers of the city, he would charge such offices 


COMPTROLLER 


103 


and credit himself with the document numbers issued to them. The 
issuing office would remain charged with the documents on the 
books of the comptroller until the treasurer certifies that he has obtain¬ 
ed the prescribed amount of fees for the issuance thereof, or has 
returned the cancelled or unused documents. Even though there be 
but one office which is authorized to issue license and permit docu¬ 
ments, the same procedure would, nevertheless, be necessary in order 
to effect an accounting and auditing control over this class of revenue 
in the comptroller’s office. 

At the present time there is practically no accounting and audit¬ 
ing control over the financial stationery issued by the city of Norfolk. 
The only such stationery for which there is anything like a proper 
control relates to the income from the public market. The comptroller 
maintains a control over the receipt documents used in the collection 
of this revenue. With respect to all other licenses the comptroller 
gets only a daily report of the total of each class of license issued by 
the commissioner of revenue. In this connection it is to be noted 
that although the report is signed by the commissioner of revenue, 
it bears no certification relative to its correctness. The comptroller 
also gets a report from the city collector showing amounts collected 
from licenses, but this report is on the same form as is used for taxes 
and is insufficient to be of real auditing value. 

All license documents should be issued by one central office. 
There is no reason to have any of them issued by the police depart¬ 
ment simply because the revenues go to the pension fund. Although 
applications should all be made at a central office, all licenses be 
issued there, and all collections be made there, no license relating 
to conditions under the jurisdiction of police, fire, health, or other 
departments should be issued until the applications have been ap¬ 
proved by such departments and returned to the issuing office. 

Having established in the comptroller’s office (or other central 
auditing office) an accounting and auditing control over licenses, 
permits, and similar documents, there would be no reason for having 
them issued by one office and the fees paid into another as is done 
under the present practice. All license documents should therefore 
be charged to the city treasurer on the books of the central auditing 
office and all license procedure centralized with the treasurer—includ¬ 
ing both the issuance of the licenses and the collection of the fees. 

Appropriation and Bond Fund Accounts 

As in the case of revenue accounts, the system of appropriation 
and bond fund accounts is much better than that found in most 
cities. It is possible to ascertain from the comptroller’s office in 
Norfolk not only the unexpended balances of the various authoriza¬ 
tions, but also the unencumbered balances. Moreover, it is also 
possible to ascertain the cost of personal service as distinguished from 
other costs. 

Open market orders are registered as encumbrances at the time of 
issuance, and liquidated by subsequent postings of audited vouchers. 
Contracts are also registered as encumbrances, but not as early in the 


104 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


procedure as is necessary to perfect the comptroller’s system. To 
this latter end, he should be afforded better co-operation by the board 
of control. He should be apprised of the amount of contracts prior 
to the final execution thereof; in fact his validation on the contract 
should be a prerequisite to such execution. 

With respect to the bookkeeping methods used in liquidating the 
contingent liabilities, it is suggested that it be done by posting again 
the amount of the original encumbrances instead of using an alphabet¬ 
ical code to identify liability and payment items as at present. 

Audited vouchers are first registered by groups (as per United 
States census classifications) and the totals thereof used to prove the 
accuracy of the subsidiary ledger postings, and also to post the summary 
controlling accounts in the general ledger. Loose-leaf ledger sheets 
are used—those relating to a particular year are bound permanently 
at the close of the year. 

The unencumbered balances of appropriations are transferred and 
credited to the general fund at the close of a year and only those 
balances carried forward which are necessary to cover the outstand¬ 
ing or unvouchered amount of contract and open market orders. This 
is all good accounting procedure. 

Claimants’ Ledger 

The primary purposes of such a ledger are: 

1— To prevent double payments. 

2 — To show the amount of purchase from each firm doing business 

with the city. 

3— An index to the files. 

1—To show open market purchase orders separately from contract 
purchases—unless this latter information is shown on the ap¬ 
propriation and fund ledgers. 

No claimants’ ledger is now maintained. There is a volume 
known as a contract register which is used as a basis for checking 
contract payments, but it does not serve the purpose of preventing 
double payments as well as would a properly designed claimants’ 
ledger. 

That part of a claimants’ ledger which relates to contracts may, 
with advantage, be designated a contract ledger. If such separation 
is not made, the various items should be designated either by capital 
“O” or capital “C” so as to make it possible readily to ascertain the 
amount purchased on contract as distinguished from open market 
purchases. In either event, the record should contain more informa¬ 
tion than is now carried in the contract register. 

With respect to a record which will show the amount of business 
transacted with each firm, a set of small cards is now maintained 
which shows voucher numbers of the various items, but does not 
show amounts, dates, or character of payment. Obviously such a 
record is of little use, except as an index to the files, and even for that 


COMPTROLLER 


105 


purpose it cannot serve as satisfactorily as it would if it contained 
more information. In order to locate documents in the files, it is now 
necessary to refer to these cards and also to the appropriation ledger. 

A claimants ledger can be kept with the greatest facility on 
large cards not less than 5x8 inches, and preferably 8JA x 11 inches, 
or in a loose-leaf book. 

Contract Ledger 

The comptroller operates a contract ledger which is designed 
satisfactorily for the purpose. Little use is made of this ledger how¬ 
ever- because most of the city’s contracts are let on a unit basis and 
hence treated the same as open market orders. 

Property Ledger 

1 lie city maintains no property ledger. Although the desirability 
of such a record is recognized by the comptroller, sufficient funds 
have not been available to compile the information necessary to set 
up property accounts. A list of land and buildings owned by the city 
is published in the annual report, but the valuations attached thereto 
instead of representing actual costs or even present value are merely 
the appraisement placed thereon by the tax assessors. Obviously such 
valuations with respect to buildings have no value for administrative 
purposes in determining depreciation, repairs, etc. Moreover, with 
respect to land the valuation is made once every five years. It should 
also be remembered that the assessors’ figures for both land and 
buildings represent only two-thirds to three-fourths of the actual 
market value. 

With respect to equipment an annual inventory is made so that 
it can be included in the annual report. No administrative use is 
made thereof and it was stated that it is not even checked back to 
determine the correctness thereof. 

The sooner adequate property ledgers are designed and establish¬ 
ed, the sooner will it be possible to obtain an administrative as well 
as an accounting and auditing control over the various classes and 
kinds of city-owned property. In view of the fact that it is increas¬ 
ing numerically each year as well as in value, and is becoming more 
scattered, this undertaking should not be unnecessarily delayed. 

General Ledger 

The central accounting office should operate a general ledger 
containing (1) controlling accounts for all subsidiary ledgers such as 
expense, revenue, contract, claimants, appropriations, bond, property, 
etc., (2) such special and trust accounts as do not fall within the 
scope of other ledgers, and (3) all summary and other accounts neces¬ 
sary to produce a complete balance sheet of the city. The comptroller 
has an excellent system of general ledger accounts in process of de¬ 
velopment; he knows the steps which yet remain to be taken in order 
to complete the system, and judging by the work done in the past, 
it is believed that he will complete the undertaking. 


106 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Auditing 1 

Revenues 

Tax Collections: 

The comptroller has an auditing control over the accruals and 
collections of taxes except that— 

1— From the time the tax rolls are turned over from the collector 
for collection until they are audited two years later, it would be pos¬ 
sible for a collector to hold out portions of the amounts collected and 
use the same for personal and sundry purposes without being detected 
by the comptroller. The new prebilling system recently inaugurated 
by the collector will help to overcome such a possibility if the comptrol¬ 
ler will follow up the new system by occasionally checking up the 
tax bills which remain on hand and thus determine whether any collec¬ 
tions have been made which have not been reported to him. 

An alternative—suggested by the comptroller—would be to have 
the tax bills prepared in advance by the commissioner of revenue. A 
taxpayer would call at this office for his bill, which the commissioner 
would hand him after first detaching a stub showing the bill number 
and amount. The taxpayer would make payment to the treasurer at 
an adjoining window. At the end of each day the stubs would be 
sent to the comptroller by the commissioner of finance, and their total 
would be the amount which should be charged to the treasurer on 
the comptroller’s books. Penalties would of course be added to both 
the bill and stub before the bill is given out. 

2— There is no adequate check to determine whether the penalties 
which are collected and reported to the comptroller represent the 
amounts which should have been collected. This is perhaps the most 
serious defect in the revenue system, and steps should be taken with¬ 
out delay to establish in the comptroller’s office the correctness of the 
amounts reported as penalties. 

3— There is no separate accounting and auditing control over real 
and personal taxes. The desirability of showing not only amounts 
collected from each source, but particularly the amounts of each 
which remain uncollected, is obvious. Similarly, it should be unnecess¬ 
ary to point out the advantage of locating errors which would be 
secured by a separate accounting control over real and personal taxes. 
The lack of such control can be easily corrected. 

Water Charges: 

See chapter of this report relating to water department. 

Licenses: 

See “Financial Stationery” in this chapter. 

Court Fines: 

Such fines are reported monthly to the comptroller by the clerks 
of the courts, and the amount of cash collected is verified by the 
reports received from the city treasurer. A better control over this 
class of revenue would be established if the cash books in the courts 
were made with duplicate pages, the duplicate being made by carbon 


COMPTROLLER 


107 


process, and perforated so that it could be torn out at the end of the 
month and forwarded to the comptroller, who would thus have a copy 
of the original record as a basis for checking against the comptroller’s 
report. 

Miscellaneous Revenue: 

In each department where miscellaneous revenues accrue, warrants 
for collection are made out and submitted in triplicate to the comp¬ 
troller. The latter retains one copy and returns the other two to the 
department, after which one is sent to the person from whom payment 
is due. It is suggested that the department should retain a copy in 
the first place, and transmit the other two to the comptroller who would 
retain one, and himself forward the original to the payor, thus simplify¬ 
ing the procedure. All three copies are now sent to the comptroller 
in order that he may indicate thereon his own sequence of document 
numbers for the purpose of obtaining accounting control thereover. 
In this connection it is unnecessary for the copy retained by the de¬ 
partment to have such document number indicated thereon, because 
after the warrant has been transmitted to the comptroller it is a 
matter entirely within the jurisdiction of the comptroller, payor, and 
the treasurer. 

The fact that these warrants are payable only to the treasurer 
should be stated on the document. 

Collector’s Reports: 

The city collector reports his collections to the comptroller on 
a form designated as ‘‘daily report”. As a matter of fact these reports 
are not submitted daily; sometimes there are only three or four re¬ 
ports a month, as shown by the tabulation on the following page. The 
reports should therefore be so designed as to show the number of 
days, and in fact the exact dates comprehended by the report. Further¬ 
more, the form should include a certificate designed adequately to 
fix responsibility relative to the correctness of the facts reported, and 
this certificate should be signed personally on each report by the 
collector. The form should also contain a certificate for counter- 
signature by the treasurer, to be signed by him upon receipt of the 
collector's check for the amount set forth in the report or on receipt 
of a bank deposit slip showing that the amount thereof has been de¬ 
posited to the credit of the city. At the present time the comptroller 
is compelled to go to the treasurer’s office and borrow the latter’s 
cash book in order to determine whether the collector has paid into 
the treasury the amount which he has reported as collected. Even 
the figures shown in this cash book should not be accepted in lieu 
of a report because there is no certification by the treasurer as to the 
correctness thereof. 

The form which is now transmitted by the collector to the comp¬ 
troller is in fact not a report, in that it fails to show the period report¬ 
ed on and is not signed by the collector. So long as a separate collect¬ 
ing office is maintained the report should be signed by the collector 
and countersigned by the treasurer. 


108 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


DEPOSITS BY CITY COLLECTOR WITH CITY TREASURER 
DURING YEAR ENDING JUNE 30, 1915, AS SHOWN BY 
REPORTS RENDERED TO THE COMPTROLLER 


1911 


July 

3 


9 


15 


21 


31 

Aug. 

1 


15 


31 

Sept. 

10 

90 


rj U , 

29 

Nov 

9 

hJ . 


7 . 


16. 


30. 

Dec. 

5 . 


30. 


$ 5,059.00 
8,513.00 
9,118.00 
1,879.00 
16,581.00 
9,297.00 
7,286.00 
1,397.00 
5,297.00 
7,138.00 
7,071.00 
19,019.00 
207,336.00 
5,831.00 
103,287.00 
11,636.00 
16,966.00 


1915 


Ian. 

12 


26 


29 

Feb. 

5 


25 

Mar. 

1 


25 

Apr. 

7 


21 


30 

May 

Q 

O 


10 


11 


18 


21 


21 


25 


26 


27 


28 


June 1 
1 
1 


9 

r>J 

8 

11 

30 


8,197.00 

6,191.00 

5,713.00 

11,602.00 

11,585.00 

2,511.00 

15,009.00 

7,396.00 

1,912.00 

5,251.00 

6,203.00 

8,021.00 

9,615.00 

8,615.00 

12,167.00 

12,978.00 

16,111.00 

8,597.00 

16,521.00 

19,172.00 

30,556.00 

70,112.00 

38,738.00 

15,509.00 

21,110.00 

13,831.00 

21,311.00 














































COMPTROLLER 


109 


Expenditures 

The audit of expenditures is discussed in that chapter of this 
report relating- to payment of payrolls and other claims except in so 
far as such audit relates to the following: 

Contract Claims: 

Although the comptroller receives copies of open market purchase 
orders and also of some contracts, he does not receive copies of 
contracts for pavement and similar construction work where the con¬ 
tractor is required to furnish a bond. Neither the contract nor the 
bond is filed with the comptroller. He does receive letters of advice 
from the board of control, but these frequently contain insufficient 
information to serve as a basis for real audit. Moreover, nothing less 
than the contract itself should be used by the auditor when passing a 
claim based thereon. Hence the city’s procedure should be readjusted 
so that all contracts will be filed in the comptroller’s office instead 
of in the city clerk's office as at present. 

Advice of Adjustment : 

When during the process of audit a change is made in the amount 
of a claim, the present practice is to return the claim to the depart¬ 
ment where it originated so that the ledger account there can be cor¬ 
rected. It is recommended that the claim (voucher) be sent on its 
way toward payment and that an advice of adjustment be sent to the 
department as a basis for changing the departmental ledger account. 
Upon the abolition of the department ledgers as elsewhere recommend¬ 
ed herein, even the transmittal of such advice would become un¬ 
necessary. 

Outside Inspection: 

In discussing payment of claims other than payrolls, it is recom¬ 
mended that as a basis for audit a form of “blind tally” receipt be 
adopted and a copy thereof used in connection with a copy of the 
purchase order or contract. In addition to such written evidence 
from receiving clerks that commodities have been received, attention 
is called to the desirability of providing for some overhead inspection 
from the central auditing office. The verification of the fact that the 
kinds of supplies have been delivered at the time, and in the place and 
quantity as ordered, is in fact in the nature of a field audit and proper¬ 
ly comes within the scope of the duties of a city auditor. It is not 
necessary for an inspector from the auditor’s office to verify the de¬ 
livery of each purchase, but it is desirable for the moral efifect which 
it will have upon the reports made by persons at delivery points to 
have some overhead inspection from time to time. Such inspection 
need not be either regular or complete. The very fact of it being in¬ 
termittent will have practically the same efifect as if it were regular 
and complete, because the employees who receive commodities and 
receipt for them can never know when an inspector from the auditor’s 
office will drop in and verify the correctness of their reports. 

Payment of Claims Other Than Payrolls 
Procedure in Brief 

Dealers doing business with the city render invoices direct to 


110 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


the departments where the purchase orders originate. The invoices 
are then vouchered in the departments and transmitted to the comp¬ 
troller’s office from the 1st to the <Sth of each month for the month 
preceding. After the comptroller has approved a claim, it is sent 
to the office of the board of control and there signed by at least t'wo 
of the three members of the board. It is then returned to the comp¬ 
troller so that he may draw the warrant and make payment. 

The comptroller endeavors to audit all vouchers by the 12th of 
the month, but it is usually about the 17th before they are paid. In 
fact payments of vouchers are made at sundry dates throughout the 
month 

The medium of payment consists of a warrant signed by the city 
comptroller and drawn on the treasurer, and is countersigned by the 
latter and made payable at one of the local banks which serve as 
city depositories. About 6500 warrants are drawn per year 

The comptroller signs the warrants in large sheets and then 
sends them to the treasurer who countersigns them and sends them 
back to the comptroller’s office where they are detatched, and each 
warrant placed alphabetically with the voucher to which it relates. 
Postal cards are then sent out by the comptroller’s office notifying 
the payees that their claims are ready for payment. After a payee 
calls at the comptroller’s office and obtains his warrant, he is requir¬ 
ed to go to the treasurer’s office and have stamped on the warrant 
the name of the bank where it is payable. The treasurer also de¬ 
latches a coupon from the warrant at this time to serve as a basis for 
posting his own accounts. 

How to Expedite Audit and Payment of Claims 

Instead of bills being submitted by the dealers to the several de¬ 
partments for which the supplies were purchased, each bill should be 
submitted direct to the comptroller He should already have been 
supplied with a copy of the contract at the time it was executed and 
with a copy of the purchase order at the time it was issued. When 
deliveries were received he should have been sent a “blind tally” 
receipt from the person who received the delivery and have filed this 
with the copy of the purchase order, and thereby be in a position to 
make a prompt and effective audit. The “blind tally” system suggest¬ 
ed consists of pads of blank forms distributed in advance to each 
receiving point in the city and on which the person who actually re¬ 
ceives a delivery is required to write the name of the firm making the 
delivery and to describe in detail the character, quantity, and condi¬ 
tion of everything received. The slips should be made in triplicate 
by carbon process, the original going immediately to the auditor’s 
office (comptroller), the duplicate to the central office of the de¬ 
partment for which the supplies were purchased, and the third (a 
flimsy) retained at the receiving point. 

Although cash discounts on claims are occasionally secured under 
the present procedure, it is believed that if they were paid more 
promptly more such discounts would be obtained. The procedure 
should be so adjusted that all claims subject to a cash discount will 


COMPTROLLER 


111 


be paid within ten days from the date the bills are rendered. All 
other claims should be audited in regular routine and paid at a certain 
time each month. The present irregularity of paying claims is due 
largely to the fact that they are not received early enough in the 
comptroller’s office. By changing the procedure so that claims will 
be submitted directly to the comptroller instead of to the depart¬ 
ments, this condition will no longer obtain. 

The routine work of auditing and bookkeeping in the comptrol¬ 
ler’s office is constantly being interrupted by persons calling at the 
window for payment of vouchers. The procedure should be changed 
so that they w r ould call at the treasurer’s office and not at the comp¬ 
troller's office. Under the present procedure they are compelled to 
go to both offices. After the comptroller has signed the warrants 
they should go to the treasurer for countersignature and disburse¬ 
ment. There is no reason whatever for having them signed by the 
board of control The latter exercises much care at the time the 
liability is created (purchase made). Copies of such authorization are 
available to the comptroller as a basis for audit and after he has 
established the fact that the commodities have been delivered at the 
time, place, and in the quantity, quality, etc., as ordered, no further 
authorization should be necessary for paying the claim other than the 
signature of the comptroller wfith respect to its integrity, and the 
signature of the treasurer with respect to funds. The attaching of 
the signatures of the board of control is almost entirely perfunctory; 
it only complicates the procedure, takes the time of several officials 
and savors of “red tape’’ generally. It should be eliminated. After the 
treasurer has signed the warrants as received from the comptroller, 
lie should arrange them alphabetically near the cash window for dis¬ 
bursement. An excellent plan is to use a large leather envelope, 
having a pocket for each letter, or any light-weight device which can 
be placed in the safe at night. Since it is required that at the time 
of payment a payee shall render receipt on the voucher form, the 
audited vouchers should be forwarded to the treasurer together with 
the warrants, but in a separate package. 

Although the comptroller’s practice of assembling the warrants and 
vouchers, after the former are signed and while awaiting disburse¬ 
ment, may be continued by the treasurer, there is no need thereof. 
The signature of the payee can be obtained just as readily even 
though the vouchers and warrants are in separate packages. At the 
close of each day the vouchers which have been paid should be re¬ 
turned to the comptroller’s office for filing. A properly designed form 
of voucher-warrant would greatly facilitate the method of payment. 

All purchase orders should show at the time of issuance (in large 
red type, preferably in red skeleton type) that the invoices are to be sub¬ 
mitted direct to the comptroller’s office and that payment of the 
claim, providing the latter is approved as satisfactory, will be ready 
at the treasurer’s office on and after such a date. 

Instead of sending out postal cards to all payees as at present, 
they should only be sent to those who after—say, ten days, have not 
called for the amounts due. Efforts should be made to instruct all 


112 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


dealers doing business with the city relative to the date each month 
when payments will be made. This will eliminate the necessity for 
sending postal cards Such cards as are sent should direct the payee 
to call at the treasurer’s office (instead of at the comptroller’s office). 
The treasurer’s office is naturally a disbursing office, and with respect 
to several kinds of revenue is also a collection office. In fact it is 
recommended elsewhere herein that the city collector’s office be 
abolished and all collections be made by the treasurer. Even under 
the present procedure it is necessary to keep a man at or near a cash 
(window. Even after payees have obtained their warrants at the 
comptroller’s office they are required to go to the cash window in 
the treasurer’s office to have their warrants validated (to have name 
of bank stamped on warrant). Thus it is that the additional work 
which would devolve upon the treasurer by having payees call at his 
office for their warrants would be negligible. They have to call there 
anyway and he is compelled to keep a clerk at the cash window 

On the other hand the elimination from the comptroller's office 
of the work incident to the disbursing of warrants will enable the 
staff of that office to devote more attention to auditing and bookkeep¬ 
ing functions, which are, in fact, the real reasons for the existence of 
the office. The disbursement feature is only incidental thereto, but 
nevertheless is a disturbing and deterring factor which seriously af¬ 
fects the securing of best results. 

Better Certification Needed 

The principle should be recognized in the city’s accounting system 
that no officer be required to certify to any facts regarding which he 
has no personal knowledge. On the other hand it is essential that 
before payment is made on claims, full responsibility for the various 
factors on which the claim is based should be definitely fixed. The 
desirability of fixing responsibility for the creating of claims as well 
as for the various elements entering into the auditing and payment 
thereof is generally recognized, yet the voucher forms now in use by 
the city of Norfolk do not provide sufficient certification of facts to 
accomplish that purpose. For example, instead of there being a print¬ 
ed or even stamped or written certificate on the vouchers with respect 
to the facts to which the various officers certify, the vouchers form 
merely contains.the word “approved” and then a space for the signa¬ 
ture. Payment-vouchers for the City Home which were examined 
contained only the signature of the superintendent. Some had “O. K.” 
on the attached invoice, but nothing to indicate whose O. K. it was. 
Payment-vouchers for the police department were signed only by the 
chief of police. Those for the water department were signed by the 
engineer in charge, but in this case an invoice clerk had previously 
written the words “computation correct”. Vouchers for the city engi¬ 
neer’s office and for some of the other public works functions were 
signed by the head of the department and there was also an “O. K.” 
with signature on the invoice 

A properly designed form of voucher-warrant could be adopted 
by the city with much advantage. It should contain a certificate to be 


COMPTROLLER 


113 


signed by the deputy comptroller or other employee in that office who 
is made responsible for the audit to the effect that— 

1— The supporting invoices or payrolls have been 

fully certified by the proper persons. 

2— All calculations and extensions have been verified. 

3— The estimated amount of the order under which 

the services, repairs, "or articles were rendered or 
received did not, at the time of issuance of such 
order, exceed the unencumbered balances of the 
amounts duly appropriated, after such amounts 
have been charged and encumbered with all out¬ 
standing liabilities and contingent obligations, 
and that the amount of the claim does not now 
exceed such unencumbered balance. 

1—The amount of the claim has not been included in 
or made a part of any voucher or claim previous¬ 
ly certified. 

On the above certification the comptroller should personally 
certify that— 

1— He has examined, audited and settled the account 

for the sum of $. 

2— The expenditure was lawfully incurred and the 

charge therefore reasonable and just. 

3— The warrant is correctly drawn and payment 

should properly be made from the fund shown. 

After being certified to in the comptroller’s office, the warrant 
should go to the treasurer for countersignature and disbursement. 

Payment of Payrolls 

The payroll methods are not seriously defective; in fact they 
are better than those used in many cities. Nevertheless it is believed 
that there are certain weak points in the procedure which should be 
corrected. 

Payrolls Prepared in Advance 

Instead of payrolls being completed in the departments prior to 
the end of the period to which they relate so that they can be pre¬ 
sented to the comptroller for audit on the morning of the last day 
of such period, the pay days of the various departments should be 
adjusted so that no payroll will be completed and leave a department 
until the expiration of the period covered by it. This principle is 
now applied to the weekly payrolls, but some of the semi-monthly and 
monthly payrolls are made out on the day preceding the last day of 
service. 

Certification of Payrolls 

The payroll forms like the voucher forms are defective with re¬ 
spect to the certification necessary- to fix responsibility. Certification 
should be made on the payroll forms or on supporting time sheets 
for each statement contained thereon by persons who have first-hand 
( 6 ) 



114 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


knowledge of the kind, amount, time, etc., of the services rendered 
on which the payroll claim is based. 

Time Reports 

All rolls should be made out from properly certified time reports 
immediately after the expiration of the period to which they relate. 
Time reports are so rare throughout the departments that the standard 
forms of payroll has no mention whatever of them in the payroll 
certification. Such reports properly certified to are the only correct 
basis on which to prepare a payroll, and the fact that they are on file 
and in support thereof should appear in the certificate attached to the 
payroll. 

In this connection it should be noted that attempt should never 
be made to make payrolls serve the purpose of expense or cost ac¬ 
counting. The time reports on which payrolls are based are the 
proper medium for posting expense and cost accounts. Attention is 
called to the fact that in the street department of Norfolk the names 
of men who work on two or more jobs during a payroll period appear 
on two or more payrolls, or at least in two or more places on the same 
roll. This necessitates the preparation of several pay envelopes for 
each man and unnecessarily complicates payment and receipt. Having 
made the necessary posting to expense and cost accounts from the 
time sheets, the latter should be assembled for purposes of preparing 
the payroll and the man’s name should appear but once thereon. 

Disbursement of Payrolls 

A single check for the entire amount of a payroll is drawn in 
favor of the treasurer as paymaster. The latter pays each employee in 
cash and obtains his receipt therefor. Such employees as can con¬ 
veniently come to the treasurer’s office receive their pay envelopes 
there. The others are paid by the deputy treasurer at the places where 
they work. 

There are two exceptions to the above procedure. Checks for 
the amount of the City Home payroll and cemetery payroll are drawn 
to the respective superintendents thereof and they make the dis¬ 
bursements to their own employees, having first submitted payrolls 
containing signatures of their various employees. 

It is recommended that City Home employees be paid by the 
deputy treasurer when making his rounds to the street department, 
fire department and other departments whose employees are paid at 
the places where they work. Having secured adequate certifications 
as to time worked, an occasional test will suffice for the cemetery rolls. 
One of the cemeteries is five miles in the country and two others not 
readily accessible; hence no change is recommended in the method of 
paying the few employees engaged there. 

The second exception is in the case of the water department. 
The treasurer endorses the payroll check to the cashier of that de¬ 
partment, who pays the various employees thereof. In this instance 
also it is recommended that payment be made by the deputy treasurer. 
He is the paymaster of the city and there is no need of delegating the 
authority elsewhere. 


CITY COLLECTOR 


115 


CITY COLLECTOR 

(INCLUDING DELINQUENT TAX COLLECTOR) 




CITY COLLECTOR 


117 


CITY COLLECTOR 
(Including- Delinquent Tax Collector) 

It is recommended that this office be abolished because it is 
unnecessary. All collections should be made by the treasurer. In 
making- this recommendation emphasis is laid on the fact that no 
reflection is intended on the present collector or his assistants. The 
office appears to be capably managed. 

Preparation of Tax Bills 

The city collector is deserving of credit for having inaugurated 
a system of prebilling taxes, i. e., preparing tax bills before the time 
when tax payments become due. This is a marked improvement over 
the old method which caused taxpayers to wait in line while their tax 
bills were being prepared. As the number of bills become more 
numerous it may be found desirable to revise the form of the bill and 
also to install an aspecially designed typewriter for the purpose of their 
preparation, or at least to affix to the present typewriters an adding 
attachment which will eliminate separate listing of the bills. With the 
present number of approximately 11,000 bills and 22,000 appraisals of 
property the existing equipment is fairly satisfactory. 

Accounting and Auditing Control 

Only one ledger account is maintained in the collector’s office 
for the tax rolls. Although the cash book shows collections for real 
and personal property separately (and also shows white and colored 
separately), these are in character credit entries only; there is no 
contra entry showing the separate classes of taxes which should be 
collected. Thus it is that the collector has no separate accounting 
control over real estate taxes as distinguished from personal property 
taxes. In fact, there is no such control in the comptroller’s office. 
Such an accounting control is always desirable for the purpose of 
allocating errors and also in order that the amount of each kind of 
tax remaining uncollected might be readily ascertained at any time. 
Furthermore, there should be an accounting control over each volume 
of the rolls, at least over each ward or other taxing district. This 
principal is generally recognized by those tax-collecting offices which 
have developed the most effective procedure for handling this kind 
of business. 

In discussing the subject of auditing in connection with the comp¬ 
trollers’s office, attention has been called to the lack of auditing control 
of that office over the penalties which the collector adds when making 
delinquent tax collections. It is desirable that the collector cooperate 
with the comptroller for the purpose of establishing in the latter’s 
office a basis for proving the correctness of such collections. 

After tax rolls have remained with the tax collector for two years, 
they are audited by the comptroller, and collector is again credited for 
the amounts collected, and the amount of delinquent and uncollected 
real estate taxes is charged back to the collector, but similar taxes 
on personal property are charged to the delinquent tax collector. 


118 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


This official has no office in the City Hall and is compensated on the 
fee basis. It is recommended that the office be abolished and the collec¬ 
tor made responsible for collecting all delinquent taxes. If it becomes 
necessary to send a collector into the field to obtain amounts due on 
personal property it can be done equally well and, in fact, better from 
the collector’s office than by an independent outside official. With the 
abolition of the collector’s office, the collection of delinquent taxes 
should devolve upon the treasurer. 

Pending the abolition of the collector’s office, all license proced¬ 
ure should be centralized therein instead of the procedure being divided 
so that the documents are issued by the commissioner of revenue and 
the fees paid to the collector. At the time the license is issued, or at 
the close of each day, a record should be made thereof in triplicate by 
carbon process on a 3x5 inch card showing the kind of license, name of 
licensee, date issued, date of expiration, etc. These cards should be 
purchased in strips to facilitate their use on a typewriter. Each of the 
three sets of cards should be of a different color. One set should be 
filed alphabetically according to the kinds of licenses, the second set 
alphabetically according to streets and by sequence of house numbers, 
and the third set alphabetically by names of licensees. As these cards 
are properly filed behind the necessary guide cards in a cabinet of 
drawers, it will become a valuable plant not only for use of the collect¬ 
ing office, but also for use of the license inspector. The plant should be 
kept in the office where the license inspector makes his headquarters. 
The 3x5 inch cards will lend themselves to use in a loose-leaf aluminum 
pocket binder so that an inspector may take with him, when he starts 
on an inspection trip, all of the cards relating to the streets which he 
intends to cover that day. During the tour of inspection he would 
make whatever entries are necessary on the cards and in the evening 
would return them to the proper places in the office file. 

Funds in Bank 

The collector deposits his collections in bank to his credit as city 
collector. The transferring of his collections to the city treasure is 
done through the medium of bank checks which he draws on his ac¬ 
counts in favor of the city treasurer. It is recommended that all 
deposits in bank be made to the credit of the city treasurer in the first 
place instead of to the credit of the city collector. 

Attention is called to the fact that the city receives no interest on 
this money which is in the custody of the city collector. That the 
amounts are sufficiently large to justify the city in demanding interest 
on average daily balances is evidenced by the tabular statement of 
amounts deposited with the treasurer by the collector which is included 
in the chapter of this report on the “comptroller.” 

Fees Versus Salary Basis 

All fees received by the city collector should be paid into the city 
treasury. The collector and such clerical assistants as are necessary 
should be placed on a salary basis. 


TREASURER 


TREASURER 




CITY TREASURER 


121 


TREASURER 


As Collector 

The city treasurer collects certain revenues for the state of 
Virginia. He should collect not merely this class of revenue, but also 
all of the revenues accruing to the city. There is no need for maintain¬ 
ing a separate collector’s office. 

The treasurer has adopted a system of prebilling his taxes in mak¬ 
ing collections thereof for the state similar to the system adopted by 
the collector for city taxes. This is a step in the right direction. 

The form of document used for collecting state licenses is very 
badly designed and endeavor should be made to have the state provide 
a form which will be more convenient for collecting this form of 
revenue. A tentative form might be designed and submitted to the 
state for approval. 

The treasurer operates a warrant register, although the comptroller 
keeps a similar record. If the latter record were made in duplicate by 
carbon process, the duplicate could be detached and transmitted to the 
treasurer’s office as a schedule of warrants transmitted for payment and 
when placed in a binder in the treasurer’s office would serve there as a 
register without the duplicate bookkeeping now required. Such a 
schedule would serve as an advice of transmittal to the treasurer of the 
warrants and accompanying vouchers. The treasurer’s receipt might 
be taken on the original copy which would be returned to the comp¬ 
troller’s office and replaced in the original binder. Such a system of 
scheduling warrants or vouchers is used by many large commercial 
organizations, as well as by cities. In the New York City government 
seven copies of large warrant schedule are made at a single writing, 
one copy for each of seven offices which are required by charter to 
maintain a warrant register. Each copy of a schedule serves as a 
register. 

As Custodian 

Several years ago the city council designated all of the banks 
in Norfolk as city depositories. According to the city treasurer’s 
statement of cash balance September 1, 1915 (the time of this survey), 
the city’s money was deposited in six institutions. The treasurer 
stated that he follows a policy of keeping most of the money in the 
largest institutions. There is no guiding rule with respect to the 
amount of money which may be deposited in any one bank, i. e., the 
amount deposited has no definite relation to the capital, surplus, or 
average deposits of the bank. It is recommended that such a rule be 
adopted; in fact, it could with advantage be written into the new 
charter. As an illustration of what is meant, the four factors comprised 
in the rule followed by the chamberlain of the city of New York in dis¬ 
tributing the city’s fund among the various depositories are set forth 
below: 

First—Amount of bank’s capital and surplus. Ten 
per cent of the combined capital and surplus of 
a bank is taken as a minimum basis. Thus a 


122 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


bank with $3,000,000 capital would be entitled 
to receive $300,000 deposits 
Second—Rate of interest. For every 34 P er cent 
above 2 per cent interest, an additional 2}4 per 
cent of the capital and surplus is added, up to 20 
per cent, which is the maximum. Thus, if the 
$3,000,000 bank offers to pay 3 per cent, it is 
entitled to an amount equal to 10 per cent of the 
capital and surplus, in addition to the first 10 per 
cent, making $000,000 in all. 

Third—The ratio of capital and surplus to the bank's 
general deposits. The question here is one of 
safety. A ratio of five times as much in deposits 
as the amount of capital and surplus is taken as 
normal. The variation of one unit above or 
below causes a variation of 34 per cent in the 
amount of city deposits. Thus in the case speci¬ 
fied. if the bank had ten times as much deposits as 
its capital and surplus, a deduction of five times 
34 per cent, or 2^4 per cent, would be made, 
reducing its maximum city deposits from $(500,000 
by $15,000, leaving it at $525,000. 

Fourth—The amount of money the city has to deposit. 

In New York in arranging transfers between 
depositories, those that offered to pay 3 per cent 
receive the maximum to which they are entitled, 
except in a few cases where they restricted the 
amount themselves on which they would pay 3 
per cent. The remainder of the city’s funds are 
then distributed among those that offered to 
pay 234 per cent in the proportion of the max¬ 
imum to which they are entitled. As the city’s 
total balances vary, the effort is made to preserve 
this proportion among the 2^4 per cent banks in 
round amounts. 

It has been found that the use of some such plan as that indicated 
above does not prevent a city securing interest on its deposits. In 
fact the present city chamberlain of New York by revising the rule 
to its present form secured enough additional interest to more than 
pay for the maintenance of his office. 

In this connection it is to be noted that the city of Norfolk receives 
no interest whatever on the treasurer’s current balance in bank* con- 


* In September. 1014, the city borrowed $500,000, at a high rate of 
interest. In June, 1015. $500,000 of 434 per cent bonds were sold 
to pay this loan when it matured the following September and the 
proceeds of the bond sale were deposited at 4 per cent in four of the 
local banks from June to September, this being an exception to the 
above statement that the city receives no interest whatever on daily 
balances. 



CITY TREASURER 


123 


sidered together with the fact that no interest is received on bank bal¬ 
ances of the city collector, the situation presents rather a serious aspect. 
In fact of the many cities which the Bureau of Municipal Research has 
examined, Norfolk is the only one which receives no interest on its cur¬ 
rent bank balances. Every effort should be made without delay to secure 
interest on all city deposits. 

Fee Versus Salary Basis 

All fees collected by the city treasurer should belong to the city 
and not to the treasurer personally. Both he and his assistants 
should be placed on a salary basis. 

Loans 

It is deemed proper to call attention to the fact that the treasurer 
has during recent months negotiated short-term loans in New York at 
a rate of interest much below that which the city has been accustomed 
to pay for such accommodation. 








COMMISSIONER OF REVENUE 


COMMISSONER OF REVENUE 



COMMISSIONER OF REVENUE 


127 


COMMISSIONER OF REVENUE 


As Assessor 

Real Estate: 

The commissioner of revenue is charged with the duty of assessing 
for tax purposes during the five-year interim of the state land assess¬ 
ments the buildings within the city of Norfolk. The commissioner- 
ship is a constitutional office, but that should not operate to prevent 
changes in the assessments and duties of the office if such are known 
to be desirable. In recommending changes it is proper to emphasize 
that no reflection is intended on the present incumbent. As pointed out 
elsewhere in this report, the function of asessing property involves no 
question of public policy and hence there is no reason why the official 
who makes the assessement should be elected instead of appointed. 
If the office of commissioner of revenue is continued it should be made 
appointive by the chief executive officer of the city. Furthermore, it 
should be combined with the office of land assessors. There is no good 
reason for having two separate organizations for assessing property. 
In fact, it tends away from rather than toward securing proper assess¬ 
ments. 

Assessors should be selected on the basis of their experience and 
training for that particular kind of work rather than because of their 
political prowess in securing votes at election time. The experience 
which an assessor acquires from year to year becomes more and more 
valuable to a community and should be capitalized by it. This can only 
be done by retaining him in office. It is impossible to develop scientific 
methods in assessing property without some permanency of staff and 
continuity of program. There can be no such when the office is 
continually in the turmoil of preparing for or recovering from an elec¬ 
tion. 

Although the office as now constituted is charged with the 
assessment of buildings only and not of land, there was an obvious lack 
of recognition of those factors of valuation even in assessing buildings 
which have been found so valuable by the communities which have 
made the most progress in assessment methods. 

Licenses: 

The commissioner of revenue is charged with the issuance of 
licenses. He has also conducted a considerable amount of inspection 
incident to the issuance thereof. Owing to the inadequacy of such 
inspection relative to business taxes, it was supplemented in 1915 by 
a state official—the “examiner of records.” Moreover, council ap¬ 
pointed a license inspector to assist in locating all licensable occupa¬ 
tions, businesses, etc. 

Under the present law whereby the commissioner receives fifty 
cents on each city license and seventy-five cents on each state license, 
irrespective of the amount thereof, there is no incentive for him to 
“go hack of the returns” and investigate to determine whether the 
correct amounts have been reported. 


126 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


License inspection is foreign to assessing property for an advalorem 
tax and should therefore be taken from the commissioner of revenue 
as should also the issuance of licenses. 

Personalty: 

Another principal duty of the commissioner of revenue consists 
of distributing- blank forms to owners of personal property and re¬ 
quiring them to list thereon the property owned and its value. The 
personal property tax is discussed in the chapter on “Revenue System.” 

Fee Versus Salary Basis 

If this office be continued, all fees collected by it should be turned 
in to the city treasury and the office placed on a salary basis. 


LAND ASSESSORS 


129 


LAND ASSESSORS 


(9) 





LAND ASSESSORS 


131 


LAND ASSESSORS 

Land is assessed only once in five years. The assessors are ap¬ 
pointed for that purpose by the judge of the corporation court. Al¬ 
though in a certain sense these assessors are state officials, their work 
nevertheless was included within the scope of this survey because it 
affected so intimately the citizens of Norfolk and their government. 

Time 

It is believed that the proper land assessment demands a continuing 
readjustment of values from year to year instead of asessment only 
once in five years. 

Appointment 

It is entirely proper to appoint the land assessors. In fact, the 
office should include assessment of all property instead of the assess¬ 
ment of building being delegated to an elective official. For the city 
to secure proper assessment it is essential that qualified men be ap¬ 
pointed and then retained in office. Very few men know how to assess 
property. Proper assessing in a city the size of Norfolk is enough of 
an undertaking to demand the entire thought and time of an assessor 
from year end to year end. Under the present practice it is just as 
probable that men will be appointed who are unfamiliar with the 
science of assessment as it is that someone will be appointed who is 
capable. The plan of appointing a contractor and a real estate dealer 
as two of the three assessors has but limited merit. The fact that men 
are engaged in such occupations is little assurance that they are 
qualified to serve as assessors. Even the experience which a board 
obtains quinquenniallv is largely lost to the community because five 
vears hence different men will probably be appointed. 

Methods 

The city is not districted for assessing purposes; all three assessors 
go around together. If assessors are properly qualified there is no 
need for their traveling in groups. Those cities which have made 
most progress in their assessment methods, in addition to establishing 
permanent staffs, have started by districting the city and assigning- 
certain assessors to each district. 

The field memorandum books used by the assessors when returned 
to the central office are copied into a “rough book” and from this book 
the information is copied three times to as many different records. 
The “rough book” is used for assembling the various properties owned 
by the same persons so that the other records may show on one page 
or group of lines all of the property which a person owns. It is recom¬ 
mended that loose-leaf sheets or cards which will fit into a convenient 
pocket binder be used in the field and that these sheets or cards when 
returned to the central office be assembled by owners and then listed 
direct to the land book. This would obviate entirely the necessity of 


132 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


preparing the “rough book.”* It is recommended that instead of 
writing the separate copies of the rolls arrangements be made to 
typewrite at a single writing by carbon process the various copies 
which the law requires. It is also probable that the tax bills can be 
prepared at the same writing, thus eliminating a large amount of work 
and hence of expense, not only in this office but also in the collecting- 
offices. 

No inquiry was made relative to the various factors of land value 
which the assessors use, but no scientific rule, such as the Hoffman- 
Neill, could be used satisfactorily without a better and more complete 
organization than it is possible to obtain in Norfolk under the present 
plan of only quinquennial assessments. 

Equipments 

It was noted that the assessors were equipped with books obtained 
from the insurance companies, showing plats of the various properties 
in the city, and also with blue prints from the city engineer’s office and 
the offices of real estate firms. There was an absence, however, of land 
value maps of the kind which have been almost indispensable to 
assessors in cities where they have been adopted. Such maps are of 
great value in equalizing value of land in different parts of the city. 
They cannot be developed with advantage in Norfolk until a permanent 
assessment office is established. 

Values 

As is pointed out in that chapter of this report relating to the 
city’s revenue system, the only proper basis on which to assess taxes is 
full valuation. It was stated that although not more than a two-thirds 
valuation has been made in prior assessments, the assessors were 
nevertheless assessing at approximately three-fourths value in 191f>. 
Nothing less than 100 per cent as represented by “a fair market value” 
should be accepted next time. 


* Incidentally it should be noted that the commissioner of revenue 
also prepares a similiar rough book for the purpose of recording trans¬ 
fers. It is believed that a card system would be more convenient for 
that purpose and would cost less to prepare. In fact, so long as the 
land assessors continue to use the rough book, the same volume could 
be turned over to the commissioner of revenue for his use, because they 
have no further use for it after the data is assembled at each five-year 
period. 



INSPECTOR OF LICENSES 


133 


INSPECTOR OF LICENSES 






INSPECTOR OF LICENSES 


135 


INSPECTOR OF LICENSES 

An examination of the records of the present inspector of licenses 
shows that he has been getting satisfactory results since his appoint¬ 
ment. However, the following suggestions are made with respect to 
improving this branch of the city’s work. Some of these features have 
already been commented on in other parts of the report. 

In the first place, all license documents should be under accounting 
and auditing control of the comptroller’s office. 

The city collector should issue all license documents as well as 
collect the fees. After the consolidation of the collector’s office with 
that of the city treasurer, the latter official should issue the licenses 
and collect the fees. 

License inspection is primarily a police function and should be 
conducted by the police force. It was stated that there is no police 
inspection at the present time except when specially requested by the 
license inspector. The need for police inspection is unusually great 
because the license inspector has no police authority. Moreover, many 
occupations, such as painters, paperhangers, etc., are licensable in 
Norfolk and it is a physical impossibility for one license inspector to 
cover the residence portions of the city where such men are usually 
working and also cover the downtown district. 

Adequate authority for police inspection seems to exist in the 
license ordinances of 1915, particularly in section ISO, but it evidently 
has not been seriously considered. It was stated that the police did 
not even round up the dealers who have no licenses. 

A certain day each month or each quarter should be set aside by 
the police bureau as license inspection day and each patrolman on 
beat should be obliged to report on licenses in his jurisdiction on that 
day. Such police inspection should be supplemented by an overhead 
inspection by the license inspector so long as that office is continued. 
This would have the moral effect of checking up the work of the police. 
Moreover, the latter should not be required to enter office buildings 
where they will be taken from the street for any length of time, and 
hence this kind of inspection would devolve entirely upon the license 
inspector. 

The present inspector of licenses reports to the finance committee 
of council. This is another illustration of administrative work being- 
done by the city council which is primarily a legislative body. 

The inspector copies from the licenses which he discovers in 
business houses about the city, the information which he needs for 
building up a plant in his Office. He also goes to the office of the 
commissioner of revenue and copies certain information from a book in 
that office, and to the office of the city collector for other information. 
The triplicate set of index cards recommended in that part of this 
report relating to the collector’s office should remain in that office so 
long as the office is in existence, but be in the custody of the license 
inspector. He should have desk room there. This will enable him 
to keep in absolute control of the license situation. 


136 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Date of Expiration 

All business licenses expire at the same time—April 30 and are 
payable at the same time—May 1. In fact, practically all licenses 
expire April 30, both those which are levied as a regulative measure for 
purposes of police control and also those, like the business taxes, which 
are based on the amount of business done. To have all licenses termi¬ 
nate at the same date and become payable at the same date is bad 
procedure. It makes such congestion of clerical work and also of field 
work that it is impossible promptly and properly to attend to it. 
Certain groups of licenses should be made to expire the first of each 
month through-out the year, i. e., one group of licenses should expire 
January 31, another group February 28, another March 31, etc. 

Penalties 

The license ordinance states that a penalty shall be attached May 
31 on such licenses as are not paid at that time. However, at the 
time the survey was made in September, it was stated that no penalties 
had yet attached on licenses which had been delinquent since the pre¬ 
ceding May. Such a failure to enforce penalties is worse than no 
penalties at all. They should either be abolished or enforced. In 
fact, if a licensee fails to pay his fee he should not be permitted to 
continue in business. 

Automobile Licenses 

Attention is called to the need for revising fees on automobiles 
and trucks. A license fee of $25 is required on delivery autos regard¬ 
less of horsepower, weight, or any other special factors. A large pro¬ 
portion of delivery autos are Fords and these are required to pay $25, 
while big delivery trucks pay a fee of only $30. The inequity is 
obvious and should be adjusted. 


SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 


137 


Sealer of Weights and Measures 



SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 

SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 


139 


Organization 

i 

The enforcement of the laws relative to weights and measures is 
in charge of a sealer of weights and measures who is appointed by the 
judge of the corporation court and serves at the pleasure of the court. 
His office is created by statute and he is a state officer responsible only 
to the judge who appoints him. The present incumbent has held 
office since 1911. His salary. $1,200 a year, is paid by the city of 
Norfolk and an annual allowance of $600 a year is awarded by the city in 
lieu of state fees, thus making his income $1,800 per year. 

State Law Permits Sealer to Charge Fees 

Section 1918 of chapter 86 of the laws of Virginia provides that 
the “sealer of weights and measures shall have five cents for every 
weight or measure or scale, beam and balance, and ten cents for each 
steel yard and the beams and poises thereof, tried, proved and sealed, 
or defaced and destroyed by him, to be paid by the owners respectivelv 
for whom the service is rendered.” 

Thus, under this law, all of the merchants of the city would be 
required to pay fees to the sealer upon every test. Realizing that the 
fee system with relation to weights and measures has been condemned 
in most municipalities throughout the country as unwise and produc¬ 
tive of inefficencv, and, indeed, frequently of dishonesty, to say nothing 
of its unfairness to the merchants, the council adopted an ordinance 
making the sealer in effect a city officer, and providing an annual 
salary and compensation to be paid him in lieu of fees. The fee system 
was then abolished. Although the council provided a salary and 
adopted ordinances which the sealer is directed to enforce, no pro¬ 
vision was made for supervising his work or making him responsible 
to any administrative official of the city; consequently, the sealer has 
been operating and is at present serving without supervision or without 
reporting to any state, county, or municipal authority. 

Sealer Should Be City Officer and Under the Control 
of Department of Social Welfare 

Amendment of the state law and the ordinances, so as to make 
the sealer a city official appointed by the central executive and re¬ 
sponsible to the administrative head of the proposed department of 
social walfare, is recommended. He should be paid a salary of $1,200 
per year. The statute, when amended, should prohibit the fee system 
and should provide that each city shall be required to employ and main¬ 
tain an inspector of weights and measures. 

The expenses incurred by the sealer in the course of his work- 
should be paid by the city and provided for in the annual budget in the 
same manner as are the operating expenses of any other city depart¬ 
ment or bureau, with the change in the law, the present so-called 
department of weights and measures should be organized as a bureau 
of the department of social welfare, and the title of the official in 
charge be changed to inspector of weights and measures. 


140 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Terms “Sealer” and “Sealed” Misleading- 

In amending the statutes and ordinances the term “sealer" and 
“sealed” as applied to the official in charge of this function and his 
inspection of weighing and measuring devices should be omitted from 
the law and the title made “inspector,” and the examination of weigh¬ 
ing and measuring devices should be referred to as the testing and 
inspection thereof. Nothing is more misleading to the purchasing 
public than the use of the word “sealed” as applied to the inspection 
and testing of a scale or measure. The term “sealed” is generally 
understood by house wives to mean that, after the scale has been 
tested by the inspector or sealer, it has been sealed or locked in such a 
way as to prevent its subsequent fradulent use. Consequently, the 
unsuspecting purchaser observing the seal upon a scale which in fact 
may be inaccurate, is led to believe that it is an accurate weighing 
instrument. Moreover, the so-called sealing process, which is nothing 
more than placing a stamp upon the weighing and measuring device 
showing the day and date and by whom inspected, serve as an aid to 
the dishonest merchant who only too frequently points to the seal upon 
his inaccurate or fraudulent scale or measure as a guarantee of its 
accuracy. The practice of marking- in some way the weighing or 
measuring device so as to indicate to the inspector or sealer that the 
device has at some time been tested, is in accordance with good proce¬ 
dure, since it serves to check the work in the field and also to protect 
the owner against prosecution for failing to have his scale or measure 
originally tested in accordance Avith the law. In this connection, it 
is further recommended that the sealer or inspector make clear, through 
educational campaign and propaganda, that the seal is no guarantee of 
the accuracy of the scale. 

Inspector Should Be Selected Through Civil Service 

The work performed by an inspector or sealer of weights and 
measurer is of a more or less technical character, and he should have at 
least a competent knowledge of mathematics and a general understand¬ 
ings of the mechanics of scales. This is required principally because 
he should be empowered to promulgate and enforce rules and regula¬ 
tions go\ r erning the manufacture of scales, and should be able to 
determine for the city what type and kinds of scales shall be permitted 
in use or to be sold in the city. Therefore, his selection should be 
dependent upon proof as to his fitness in those respects. The inspec¬ 
tor who is efficient will necessarily make numerous enemies, especially 
among dishonest merchants, and dishonest merchants frequently are 
not without influence among politicians. Consequently, unless he is 
protected against arbitrary removal, he will either be lax in the enforce¬ 
ment of the law in order to avoid making enemies, or there will be fre¬ 
quent changes in the office of inspector. For these reasons, also, it is 
urged that the position of inspector of weights and measures beplaced 
under the protection of the civil ser\dce rules and regulations and 
that he be selected only as the result of a competitive civil service 
test, and ser\ r e during good behavior. 

Civil Service Test Should Include Physical Examination 

In a city of the size of Norfolk the inspector must necessarily 


SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 


141 


do practically all of the testing. This requires that he handle heavy 
weights and carry at all times a kit which frequently weighs from 
thirty to forty pounds. At times, it is necessary for him to make 
arrests and confiscate heavy weighing and measuring devices. As 
a result, it must be apparent that efficiency in this work demands 
that the inspector be physically fit. It is recommended, in view of 
these facts, that the civil service test include a physical examination 
and an athletic test based upon the same standards as are used in 
the physical examination for the police and fire departments. 

Assistant Sealer or Inspector Should Be Appointed 

The functions of the department of weights and measures in¬ 
clude the enforcement of all laws and ordinances relative to the 
use of weighing and measuring devices, the sale and exchange of all 
commodities in so far as their weight and measure are concerned, 
and the semi-annual testing and inspecting of all weighing and 
measuring devices in the city. 

There are, according to the sealer, 1500 business places in the 
city using scales, weights, and measures. Many of these scales are 
of the large platform type, such as are used in coal yards, freight 
yards and by ice companies, which require the services of two men 
in making a test for the handling of the large heavy test weights. 
In addition to the routine inspection of these scales, packages must 
be reweighed, complaints investigated, and occasional detective work 
performed. Thus, it is physically impossible for one man to efficient¬ 
ly perform all of these services. The routine inspections alone, which 
are of little value as'a protection against fraud, could not be made 
semi-annually by any one person. Therefore, it is recommended 
that council make provision for the appointment of an assistant 
inspector of weights and measurers whose salary should be con¬ 
siderably less than that paid the inspector. The assistant also 
should be selected as the result of a competitive civil service test. 

No Need for Semi-Annual Inspection 

The ordinance requires that every scale, weight, and measure 
within the city be inspected and tested by the scaler at least twice 
in each year. Although, with an ’additional inspector, it would be 
possible to comply with this section of the law, the department in 
making two routine inspections each year would scarcely be afford¬ 
ing the protection to the purchasing public necessary to insure honesty 
in the use of weighing and measuring devices. 

Sealers throughout the country have long since become con¬ 
vinced that the majority of frauds perpetrated against the purchas¬ 
ing public by dishonest merchants are the results of scale manipula¬ 
tion rather than the use of inaccurate or fraudulent weighing and 
measuring devices. 

Routine inspections do not serve to discover the merchants who 
perpetrates fraud through scale manipulation. Some of the most 
dishonest tradesmen are included among those who have the most 
efficient and best maintained weighing and measuring instruments. 


142 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Routine inspections conducted daily in the shops of such tradesmen 
would not serve to disclose dishonest practices of scales manipulation, 
but, on the contrary, they would serve to mislead the purchaser in 
such a store, for they would give the dealer opportunity to declare 
that his scales had been pronounced accurate each day by the sealer 
of weights and measures. A routine inspection can only serve to 
show the condition of the weighing and measuring devices at the 
moment of inspection, and if the tradesman, knowing the require¬ 
ments of the law, realizes that it will be physically impossible for the 
sealer to visit his store more than twice in one year, as it is in Norfolk, 
he need have no fear of being discovered manipulating his scale. 

It is recommended that the law be amended so as to require only 
an annual routine inspection. This annual inspection is necessary, 
not as a means of discovering dishonest tradesmen, but for purposes 
of taking a census of the weighing and measuring devices in use. 

Procedure 

City Should Be Divided Into Two Districts 

For purposes of conducting the routine inspections, the city 
should be divided into two districts. The inspector should assign 
his assistant in charge of one district and take charge of the second 
district himself. From time to time, the inspector and his assistant 
should exchange districts so as to prevent as nearly as possible their 
becoming too well known to the merchants. 

Office Should Be Open to the Public for a Definite Time Each Day 

In order that persons desiring to make complaints, have scales, 
weights, or measures tested, or secure information concerning weights 
and measures may do so, the inspector of weights and measures 
should arrange the field work so that cither he or his assistant 
would be present in the office for a definite number of hours each 
day. 

Mere Detective Work Needed 

In company with the sealer, a field study of the weighing and 
measuring devices was made. Many stores, selected at random and 
located in various parts of the city, were examined. So few scales 
found in use were accurate that the field study was discontinued. 
The general condition of the scales was such as to indicate, at least, 
that the sealer, under present conditions, was not obtaining good 
results in his work. Not only were scales found to be inacurate, but 
likewise many packages such as sugar, butter, flour, and the like were 
found to contain less than the weight represented by the tradesmen. 
In almost every instance, the tradesmen were including the wrappings 
and twine in the weight of package commodities. Hundreds of scales 
of a defective type, the use of which is prohibited in New York, 
Chicago, and Philadelphia, were found in use in the city of Norfolk. 
Scales were observed arranged in such a position as to make it physical¬ 
ly impossible for the purchasers to read the weighings; others were 
arranged so as to make it necessary for the tradesman to place his 


SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 


143 


hand upon the scale in order to permit the customer to observe the 
weight. 

\\ hile the sealer may have been responsible in some degree 
for these conditions, because of the lack of proper laws and ordinances, 
he could not be held responsible for the greater part of the conditions 
observed. In his endeavor to comply with the absurd provision of the 
ordinance requiring him to make semi-annual routine inspections, it 
was not possible for him to perform the amount of sporadic inspec¬ 
tions and detective work necessary to furnish adequate protection 
to the purchasing public. With regard to the most apparent fraudu¬ 
lent practices, the sealer is without authority to take the necessary 
action. That the dishonest merchants realize the inability’ of the 
sealer to enforce his suggestions or orders was fully demonstrated 
by their attitude toward him during the field study. Norfolk would, 
indeed, secure much better protection against dishonest tradesmen if 
the sealer were to devote practically all of his time to sporadic in¬ 
spections and detective work. At any rate, it is recommended that 
he devote a great deal more time to detctive work than he does at 
present. 

Sealer Should Employ Woman Agent from Time to Time 

To perform the kind of detective work necessary to discover dis¬ 
honesty in the use of scales and frauds in the deliveries of commodi¬ 
ties, it is essential that many purchases be made and the deliveries 
reweighed. To do this with the best results, it is necessary to employ 
from time to time the services of a woman shopper. This woman 
should make purchases throughout the city, especially in places sus¬ 
pected of practicing fraud, and secure evidence to warrant prosecu¬ 
tion. The commodities thus purchased could be delivered or sold to 
the city institutions, such as the jail or City Home. The superiority 
of a woman purchaser in this work has been fully demonstrated in 
New York. 

Council should provide funds for the prosecution of this work. 

Necessity for New Ordinance Giving Sealer Added Power 

The department is now operated under state laws and a few r local 
ordinances. The local ordinances and state laws are wholly inadequate 
in that they do not provide the sealer with power such as would be 
conductive to the prevention of fraud. He should have broad powers 
which would include the right to promulgate and enforce, under a 
penalty, rules and regulations governing the sale, manufacture and 
use of weighing and measuring devices, and the power of confiscation 
and destruction, not only of inaccurate and fraudlent scales, but like¬ 
wise of inferior and defective types. The ordinances now in use in 
the cities of New York, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Chicago, are 
recommended as types from which a proper ordinance could be drawn 
for use in the city of Norfolk. It is most important in the administra¬ 
tion of the affairs of this department that the city have power to 
promulgate rules and regulations. For example, the sealer should 
be empowered to require owners of scales, weights and measurers of 
a small type to bring them to the office of the sealer for original test 


144 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


or for reinspection after condemnation. This would save considerable 
of the inspector’s time now consumed in reinspecting condemned 
scales. 

Commissioner of Revenue Should Enforce Peddlers’ Ordinance 

The ordinances require that before licenses are issued to peddlers 
or hucksters using weighing and measuring devices in connection 
with their business, they have the same tested and sealed by the sealer. 
This ordinance has not been complied with for some time because the 
office of the sealer was closed most of the day. The commissioner of 
revenue should co-operate with the sealer by enforcing the provisions 
of this-ordinance. 


Quarters and Equipment 
Office Should Be Renovated 

The office of the sealer of weights and measures is located in a 
store in the armory building. It is so unclean and infested with rats 
as to render it insanitary and unsuited for use as an office. The loca¬ 
tion of the office is most desirable but, because of the condition in 
which it is kept, and the failure of the city to make it sanitary, the 
business of the department cannot be conducted efficiently there. It 
is, therefore, recommended that council make provision for renovat¬ 
ing the office and putting it in a clean, wholesome, sanitary condition. 
In its present state, it is unreasonable of council to expect the sealer 
to remain in the office for any length of time during the day, much 
less to invite the public to use it in connection with the business of the 
department. 

A conspicuous sign should be placed on the outside of this store 
indicating the location of the office and the hours it is open to the 
public. A similar sign should be placed within the market place. 

Office Should Have Telephone 

A considerable part of the business of the sealer could be trans¬ 
acted over the telephone, especially with relation to complaints from 
citizens; therefore, it is recommended that the office be equipped with 
a telephone. 

Sealer Should Have Automobile 

In consideration of the salary and annual allowance sriven the 
sealer, he is expected and required to defray the expenses incurred 
in the hire of wagons for the transporting of his heavy weights used 
in connection with testing large scales. He is also required to defray 
the expenses of his own automobile which he uses as a means of 
travelling about the city in performance of his duties. 

The city should provide this department with an automobile of 
tl;e small wagon type, capable of carrying one ton of test weights. 
The expense of maintaining this machine should be borne by the city. 
This would not involve much additional cost since the city now allows 
$600 a year to cover such expenses. The sealer should be required to 
drive the car himself. 


SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 


145 


Testing’ Equipment Adequate 

The testing equipment and apparatus now owned by the depart¬ 
ment are wholly adequate, except that the department should own an 
additional ton of fifty pound standard test weights, and an additional 
sealer’s kit to be used by the assistant if appointed. The equipment 
was found to be in good condition generally and showed that the 
sealer exercised proper care over it. 

Owners of Large Platform Scales Should Provide Test Weights 

To test large platform or automatic hopper scales, it is necessary 
that the sealer haul more than a ton of standard test weights. Owners 
of these types of scales should be requested to provide at least a ton 
of these standard test weights which would be kept in a cabinet near 
the scales and under lock and key. By means of this commendable 
practice, it is possible not only for the owner to test their own scales 
frequently, but also for the inspector or sealer to make frequent tests 
without the necessity of hauling department standards. At least once 
in each year .these weights should be compared with the department 
standards. If the co-operation of the coal companies owning large 
scales cannot be secured in this matter, it would be more economical 
and efficient for the city to provide these test weights than to require 
the sealer to convey a set from place to place. The city should then 
require by ordinance that the owners of such scales furnish a bond 
for the safekeeping of the standards. 

No Public Scales 

There are no public scales in the city. Consequently, it is 
difficult for persons to cause deliveries of coal or other large com¬ 
modities to be reweighed upon scales owned by disinterested persons. 
At least there should be one city scale which should be under the super¬ 
vision of the sealer. Even the sealer is practically estopped from en¬ 
forcing the coal laws because of the absence of such a scale. 

Records and Reports 

The records maintained by the sealer are not in accordance with 
good practice and modern procedure. They fail utterly to disclose the 
work performed by the sealer, or to contain a complete list of 
merchants in the city having weighing and measuring devices, and 
are of no historical or statistical value. 

Records Which Should be Maintained 

It is recommended that provision be made immediately for record¬ 
ing the activities of the sealer and his assistants and for a reporting- 
system which will keep the administrative head currently advised of 
the operation of the department. Among others, the department 
should establish and maintain the following records: 

Citizens’ Complaint Book: 

In this book should be recorded the day, date, time, name 
and address of person making complaint; name and ad¬ 
dress of firm or corporation complained of; character of 
complaint; the result of the investigation and when and 
by whom the complaint was investigated. 


( 10 ) 


146 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Record of Violations and Prosecutions: 

This should be a card record of all violations discovered, 
showing the name, address, location, and character of 
store or business, and a detailed description of the viola¬ 
tion reported and the action taken upon it. 

Record of Confiscation : 

This record should be kept in a bound book, showing the day, 
date, time, place, reason, and a detailed description of 
the scales, weights, and measures confiscated. 

Card Index of Merchants in City Using Weighing and Measuring 
Devices: 

A card record of merchants will be comparatively easy to 
maintain if the inspector is provided with a proper form 
of certicate of inspection. Certificates of inspections 
should be in a bound book, which should contain three 
duplicate copies of each certificate, with carbon paper 
between them. The first certificate, or original, should 
be given to the owner of the inspected scales, etc.; the 
second, which should be printed on much lighter paper, 
should remain permanently bound in the book; the 
third, which should be printed on stifif cardboard, should 
be removed and filed in the office of the sealer. These 
cards would then form a card record of all the merchants 
whose scales, weights, and measures are inspected. 
They should be filed according to streets, subdivided as 
to class of business, and crossindexed as to the name of 
the firm or corporation. The procedure would be for the 
sealer and his assistant each morning, before leaving the 
office, to remove these cards from their books, and place 
them in their proper position in the files. Upon the back 
of those cards should be proper printed headings call¬ 
ing for information concerning any violation found. 
Space should be provided upon which to enter the final 
dispositions in such cases. Thus upon one card would 
appear the name, address, class of business, number, and 
kind of weighing and measuring devices, date inspected, 
condition in which they were found, a record of any in¬ 
accuracy or any violation of law, and the result of the 
proceedings against the owner. 

Record of Inspections: 

The present form of record of inspections should be main¬ 
tained, as it is in accordance with good practice. 

Annual Report 

In order to indicate the efficiency of the work, and to be of real 
statistical value, the annual report of the department of weights and 
measures should contain the following tables: 


SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 


147 


1—A table of places inspected according- to character of business, 
including the following headings: 

Character of business. 

Total number of inspections. 

Number of violations found. 

Number of inspections where no violations were found. 
Penalties imposed. 

Arrests made. 

Convictions in criminal cases. 

Cases where more than one violation was discovered in 
a year. 

Under the first general heading should be included: 

Bakers. 

Butchers. 

Butter dealers. 

Caterers. 

Coal dealers. 

Coal wagons. 

Produce commission merchants. 

Candy and confectionery. 

Milk and cream dairies. 

Delicatessens. 

Drug stores. 

Dry goods. 

Feed and grain. 

Fruits. 

Fish. 

Etc. 


2—A table showing inspections of peddlers and hucksters as 
dififerentiated from inspections of stores and regidar mercan¬ 
tile establishments. Inspections of pushcarts and hucksters 
in the field are made so quickly and with such little difficulty 
that a proper impression of the efficiency of the bureau is not 
given if they are included in a general table of inspections. 
A combined table does not enable the reader to determine 
whether fraud or carelessness is greater among peddlers than 
it is among storekeepers. 

3— A table showing tests made of institutional and city depart¬ 

ment scales. 

4— A table showing classification of apparatus, and number of 

each type condemned and violations put upon them. 

.“)—A table showing apparatus confiscated and destroyed as well 
as condemned, a term used in the sense of disapproval. 


148 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


6—A table showing- number and classification of new scales, 
weights, and measures sealed during the year. This table 
would show the number of new apparatus coming into use, 
bringing added responsibility and work to the department. 

7— A comparative table by years, showing number of routine 

inspections made as compared with special inspections. By 
routine inspection is meant the annual inspection required 
by ordinance as compared with the special inspections made 
because of installation of new apparatus, of suspicion, or on 
complaint of citizens. 

8— A table of purchases made for the purpose of testing, not 

the scales, but the manipulation of the scales and the results 
found. This table should also show the a'mount of money 
spent by the bureau and its inspectors in purchases, as well 
as disposition of the commodities purchased. For example, 
if the inspector purchased a ham for the purpose of testing 
the honesty of the butcher, this table should show the cost 
of the ham and the disposition made of it—whether it was 
turned over to a city institution or hospital, etc. 

9— A table showing the number of tests made of packing com¬ 

panies’ products and results. 

10— A table of complaints received. 

11— A table showing number of household weighing equipments 

tested upon request. The purpose of this table should be to 
show the number of families equipped with scales for their 
own protection. 

12— A table showing the number of inspections made by the in¬ 

spector or assistant, arranged by months; the number of vio¬ 
lations and condemnations made; arrests; convictions; penal¬ 
ties or fines imposed. Such a table should include the follow¬ 
ing headings: 

Inspector’s name. 

Total number of inspections made. 

Number of articles condemned. 

Number of violations. 

Amount of money collected. 

Number of arrests. 

Dispositions. 

13— A table showing, by classification as to business, the number 

of inspections and violations in public markets. 

14— Tables showing, under classifications as to business and ap¬ 

paratus, violations where actual fraud was practiced, classi¬ 
fied as follows: 

Tampering with a scale. 

Fraudulent instrument. 

Operators of scales detected manipulating. 


SEALER OF WEIGHTS AND MEASURES 


149 


Scales Confiscated Should Be Reported 

The report should contain a table showing the number and kind 
of weighing apparatus condemned and confiscated, and attention 
should be called therein to the difference between a condemned scale 
and a confiscated scale. It is the experience of sealers of weights and 
measurers throughout the country that, in reporting scales condemned, 
the general public confuses this term with scales confiscated. The 
reaport should show not only the number of scales condemned and 
confiscated, but the disposition made of them. 

Publicity An Aid to Efficiency 

'Phe most effective aid to the enforcement of the weights and 
measures ordinance is publicity. A dishonest merchant has no fear 
of prosecution which results merely in a fine. The most practical 
method of securing the publicity necessary to punish a dishonest 
dealer is by printing in an annual report a list of the merchants prose¬ 
cuted during- the year, with their names, addresses and the character 
of the violations. Great care should be taken in compiling this list, so 
as not to work an injustice to any merchant. Violations due to care¬ 
lessness, such as unclean stores, should be stated and the violations 
resulting in prosecutions for deliberate fraud, should be made clear. 

A brief history of the frauds discovered during the year should 
be published to serve as a warning to housewives. 

City Gauger 

Office Should be Abolished 

The city gauger is appointed by the board of control subject to 
the confirmation of the city council. His duty is to gauge upon re¬ 
quest, and for a fee, the contents of barrels containing liquids. His 
fees, as established by law, are ten cents for gauging a barrel of forty 
gallons capacity; and seven cents for barrels holding less than forty 
gallons. 

The present incumbent has held this office for about twenty 
vears. Since the establishment of the office of city sealer, and the 
enactment of the weights and measures laws and ordinances, which 
make the supervision and inspection of all weighing and measuring 
devices the duty of the sealer of weights and measures, the city 
gauger has had comparatively little occasion to exercise the functions 
of his office. However, since the duties of both the city gauger and 
the sealer of weights and measures are practically the same regarding 
the contents of barrels, merchants are sometimes confused and un¬ 
able to determine which officer has jurisdiction. 

Therefore it is recommended that the office of city gauger be 
abolished, and that the sealer of weights and measures make public 
announcement that, thereafter, he will conduct all tests and inspec¬ 
tions of commodities packed or handled in barrels. 





POLICE DEPARTMENT 


151 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 





POLICE DEPARTMENT 


153 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 

General Comment on Organization 

The police department is organized as an administrative branch of 
the city government. It is administered by the board of control, with the 
mayor, however, from time to time exercising certain administrative func¬ 
tions relating to the department. One member of the board of control 
is designated as chairman of the police committee and as such assumes 
responsibility for the direct management of the department. 

Pursuant to the constitution and section 11 of the city charter, the 
mayor, as chief executive officer of the city, is vested with administrative 
powers, particularly in relation to the departments of police and fire, in 
that “he shall see that the duties of the various city officers and members 
of the police and fire departments are faithfully performed. He shall also 
have power to suspend such officers and members of the police and fire 
departments and to remove such officers for misconduct in office or neglect 
of duty.” Thus, the department is under the control of two separate ad¬ 
ministrative heads. While it is true that recently these two heads, namely 
the board of control and the mayor, have not disagreed openly upon mat¬ 
ters affecting the management of the police department, they have never¬ 
theless entertained such widely different views, especially in the matter 
of enforcing discipline in the police department, as to result in one over¬ 
ruling the other. As a consequence of this dual control, not only is the 
effectiveness of the chief greatly reduced because of conflicting advice, 
suggestions and orders, but the efficiency of the entire force necessarily 
suffers. 

To provide economical and efficient administration it is essential that 
there be but one head, i. e., the centralized executive referred to in the 
chapter of this report discussing the charter. This centralized executive 
should have adequate power to manage the affairs of the police depart¬ 
ment without interference or hindrance. 

Administrative Heads Do Not Receive Adequate 
Information Concerning Department 

Although both the mayor and the board of control are, by charter, 
held responsible for the administration of the department, neither re¬ 
ceives adequate information to enable them to direct the activities of the 
members of the force, to determine their efficiency or to become acquainted 
with the crime conditions of the city and the success or failure of the 
department in coping with them. 

The only formal report concerning the police department and the 
crime conditions which the administrative heads receive is a semi-annual 
report from the chief which is made, in part, upon printed forms and 
which contains the following information for each half year: 

1. The number of arrests made by each member of the force 

during each month. 

2. The occupation, age, nativity and color of persons arrested. 

3. A statement showing the number of convictions and dis¬ 

missals, classified as to the color of defendants. 


154 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


4. A statement showing the number of arrests, classified as to 

crimes complained of and subclassified as to the color of 
the defendant. 

5. A report from the matron showing the number of women 

and children coming into her custody and the disposi¬ 
tion of each case. 

C>. A statement of miscellaneous matters such as the number of 
chilren lost, estrays impounded, patrol wagon runs, am¬ 
bulance calls, reports on defective streets, property re¬ 
turned, persons drowned, accidents reported, sudden 
deaths and light “outrages” reported. 

Beyond this, neither the board of control nor the mayor receives or 
maintains any record or report which would enable them to determine 
whether crime had increased or decreased or whether the number of 
complaints received was greater or less during the current period than 
the number received during any other period. 

Daily Conferences 

Each morning the chief reports in persons to the mayor and the 
chairman of the police committee of the board of control. At this daily 
conference he discusses with the administrative heads current police busi¬ 
ness. But because of the absence of a proper reporting system in the 
police department the chief is unable to advise the administrative heads 
of the actual police conditions as represented by complaints and the suc¬ 
cess or failure of the department in the investigation of them. Thus, the 
board of control and the mayor depend upon a semi-annual report and 
the daily conferences with the chief for the basis of their judgment as to 
the efficiency of the force. 

That the semi-annual report is of little or no value to the adminis¬ 
trative heads may be demonstrated by the fact that while it points out the 
number of arrests for specific crimes, it fails to point out the number of 
such crimes complained of during the period reported upon, and likewise, 
although it shows the value of property recovered and returned, it does 
not disclose any information as to the amount of property reported stolen. 
To show in a police report that there were twenty arrests for burglary 
without showing at the same time the number of burglaries complained 
of, or to show the amount of stolen property recovered and not to state 
the amount reported stolen, does not furnish the administrative heads with 
information which would enable them to determine the efficiency of the 
force or the crime conditions of the city. 

If there were but twenty burglaries committed during the six months 
reported upon and in each instance an arrest was made, it would mean 
the policemen were efficient in the suppression of crime and the apprehen¬ 
sion of criminals, but if there were 300 burglaries reported and but 
twenty arrests, it would indicate at least that there was a need for the 
administrative heads to investigate in order to determine the cause of 
the police failures. 

Daily and Monthly Reports to Replace Semi-Annual 

Efficiency in the management of a police department demands that 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


155 


the administrative head be currently advised of crime conditions and of 
the success or failure of the police force in coping with them. Therefore 
it is apparent that the administrative head cannot properly control the 
work of the police force if he is advised of its activities only through a 
semi-annual report, even if this report is complete in its informal ion. 

Therefore, it is recommended that the chief be required to prepare 
and file with the administrative head a daily report which will contain 
detailed information concerning the operations of the department. In 
addition to this daily report, the chief should furnish the administrative 
head with a monthly consolidated report which would present, upon a 
comparative basis, a detailed account of the activities of the department 
and the crime conditions of the city. The daily consolidated report should 
be prepared from information contained in the precinct morning report, 
while the monthly consolidated report should be a recapitulation of the 
daily consolidated reports with additional information in the form of 
comparative data. These reports should be so prepared as to give accu¬ 
rately and concisely the information which will enable the administrative 
head to determine at any time from the reports and records in his own 
office the following, among other things: 

1. Whether crime is on the increase or decrease. 

2 . Whether the number of arrests during the current period 

exceeds that of preceding years. 

Whether the number of convictions is greater or less than 

that of previous years. 

4. Whether complaints received are being properly investigated. 

5. Whether the number of complaints received is greater or 

less than that of previous years. 

6. Whether the members of the detective bureau are intelli¬ 

gently investigating cases which are assigned to them. 

7. Whether there are few or many disorderly houses or houses 

of prostitution in the city. 

8. Whether juvenile delinquency is on the increase or decrease. 

Daily Conference with the Chief Should be Discontinued 

With the installation of a proper reporting system, such as will be 
fully described in a subsequent section of this report, the daily conference 
between the chief and the administrative heads should be discontinued. 

Central Complaint Record and Filing Division Recommended 

In order that the centralized executive may be able to control 
properly the records of the department, the establishment of a central 
record and filing division for complaints is recommended. All corre¬ 
spondence and complaints should be handled and all records and docu¬ 
ments affecting the police department should be filed in this division, 
except current working records and the complaint records of the detective 
bureau. 

The record and filing division should be located in the offices of 


156 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


the central executive. The division should maintain separate hies re¬ 
garding the police department as follows: 

1. Complaints—vice and general. 

2. Personal file, to include all papers relating to members wf the 

uniformed force or civilian employees in alphabetical 
order. 

A separate folder for each member of the police force bearing his 
name should be kept in this file. In each folder should be kept every 
document, letter and paper in connection with the policeman from the 
time of his appointment. By this system it will be possible for the cen¬ 
tralized executive at any time to secure information concerning the his¬ 
tory of each member of the force. 

Method of Handling Complaints and Correspondence 

A definite procedure for the handling of complaints and corre¬ 
spondence through the office of the administrative head should be adopted. 
The procedure should provide for the delivery to the complaint record and 
filing division of all mail addressed to the police department or any of its 
members. This should be done by having the mail called for at the post 
office by a messenger from the office of the division at various times 
during each day. The mail should be delivered to the clerk in charge 
of the division and by him opened, numbered serially, referred, briefed, 
acknowledged and distributed. Mail of a personal character should be 
delivered intact to the addresses of the officers. If the matter therein is 
found to be of an official nature the officers should be required to return 
the letter to this division to be handled in the regular manner. 

A brief synopsis of the complaints should be entered upon “brief 
sheets” with the name and address of the complainant omitted. The 
brief sheet should be numbered to correspond with the serial number 
of the original letter of complaint and forwarded to the chief of police 
for investigation and report. The original communication should never 
leave the filing division. It is believed to be unwise in reporting com¬ 
plaints to t^ie police to furnish the officers with the names and addresses 
of persons making complaints. The practice suggested precludes the 
possibility of complainants being annoyed by hostile policemen. It also 
encourages citizens to keep the administrative head informed of matters 
which should be called to his attention. 

The rules of the department should provide that all officers to whom 
complaints are referred for investigation should report within forty-eight 
hours after receipt, in writing, on the action taken by them. These re¬ 
ports should be carefully reviewed by the chief of the department, and 
forwarded to the administrative head with an endorsement vouching for 
the accuracy of the report. All of the reports should be reviewed again 
by the clerk in charge of the complaint report and filing division, and 
complaints should be furnished a brief synopsis of the report. Care 
should be taken to keep the administrative head advised of all serious 
complaints and of repeated complaints against any one premises or 
person. 

No papers should be removed from the files except upon requisition 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


157 


signed by the officer in charge. The requisition should state specifically 
the papers desired and the name of the person requesting them. A 
receipt should be obtained and care taken to see that they are returned 
and filed properly. 

Chief the Executive Head of the Force 

The executive head of the force is chief. He is elected by council 
upon the nomination of the board of control, and serves for a term of 
two years. He may be removed at the pleasure of council. His powers 
are only those delegated to him by the board of control and council. 

During the past twenty-six years there have been ten chiefs of police 
in command of the force—the average length of service of each chief 
being about two and a half years. 

The present incumbent has served continuously as chief for the 
past seven years.- His control over the department is as good as could be 
expected, in view of the many defects in the general organization and 
procedure for which he cannot be held responsible. His intimacy with 
modern police procedure and his training, by reason of his length of ser¬ 
vice, indicates that, with the adoption of the recommendations contained in 
this report, both as to procedure and organization, he could bring the 
force to a high standard of efficiency. 

While provision is made in the charter for protecting members of 
the police department against removal without a hearing upon charges, 
and for an appeal to the corporation court by dismissed policemen, no 
provision is made for protecting the chief of police against arbitrary 
removal. 

Chief of Police Should Be Protected by Civil Service 

It is important, in the interest of efficiency in police management, 
that the administrative head shall be a civilian, but it is equally important 
that the executive head, namely, the chief, shall become a member of the 
force, that his selection shall be the result of a competitive civil service 
examination and that he remain chief during good behavior, enjoying the 
protection afforded by the civil service rules and regulations. His re¬ 
moval should only be for cause and after a hearing. The chief of police, 
as the head of the force, is entitled to the same protection as his subordi¬ 
nates. To make the selection of the chief dependent upon his election by 
council and his removal subject to the will of council is but to continue to 
keep the police force in politics. 

Therefore, it is recommended that the charter be amended so as to 
provide that the chief shall be appointed as a result of a competitive civil 
service examination and in accordance with the civil service rules and 
regulations. The examination should not be confined to members of the 
police department. While members of the police department taking the 
examination should be given a rating for their experience in the service, 
the examination should be open to qualified persons outside of the depart¬ 
ment. 

Chief Should Devote More Time to Field Observations 

The chief devotes entirely too much time to routine office work 
and not sufficient time to observing his subordinates on patrol. Because 


158 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


of the present system of requiring - the chief to confer with his adminis¬ 
trative heads each day, his mornings are usually spent at the offices of 
the board of control and the mayor. His afternoons are invariably spent 
at his desk in police headquarters attending to routine duties. 

This failure to spend more time in the field, observing his subordi¬ 
nates and police conditions, may be the reason for the poor discipline 
found among the policemen on patrol. 

In the interest of efficient patrol service, and in order that he may 
thoroughly understand the police conditions of the city by actual observa¬ 
tion, it is recommended that the chief devote a greater amount of time to 
patrolling the city. 

In order that the chief may be able to give more time to police work 
outside of his office, it is necessary that he establish a proper reporting 
and recording system, which will bring to his desk in concise form accu¬ 
rate information concerning the activities of his subordinates. 

Chief Should Have Automobile 

That the chief may frequently visit all sections of the city to study 
police conditions, to respond to emergency calls, and to observe the 
manner in which the patrolmen are performing their duties, it is neces¬ 
sary that he be provided with an automobile runabout. The chief 
should be required to learn to operate the car himself, so that the detail¬ 
ing of a policeman or employment of a chaufifeur will not be necessary. 

Chief Does Not Receive Sufficient Information Concerning 
Crime Conditions 

The information which the chief receives concerning the operations 
of the force, and the crime conditions of the city, is not only wholly in¬ 
adequate, but it is compiled in such a way as to make it almost valueless 
in supervising the work of the force. 

While the chief is promptly informed of current happenings through 
the daily and special reports from sergeants in the precincts which con¬ 
tain considerable detailed information about the activities of the uni¬ 
formed force, yet the form in which this information is submitted to the 
chief does not assist in comparison or judgment concerning the efficiency 
of the force in coping with crime conditions. 

The procedure does not require that the chief be notified of absences 
through a proper reporting system, because policemen receive no pay 
from the city for absences and substitutes are employed. 

The reports of the sergeants upon current happenings are reviewed 
by the chief each morning, and then are filed without any tabulation of 
the complaints received, or any classification as to the subjects of com¬ 
plaint. Thus, the chief and his subordinate officers are unable to make 
any comparison between the crime conditions of today and the crime 
conditions of yesterday. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why 
the administrative heads receive no information upon crime conditions 
which would assist them in administering the department. 

Xo chief can exercise proper control over the activities of a police 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


159 


force unless he is thoroughly acquainted with the crime conditions of the 
city and the success of the force in the investigation of these conditions. 

The only means by which a chief or administrative head may learn 
the exact crime conditions of a city is through an accurate list of com¬ 
plaints which shows, not only the complaints received during the current 
period, but, likewise, the complaints received during the same period of 
another year, and the total number of complaints received to date. For 
example, to know the number of burglaries complained of during the cur¬ 
rent period is not sufficient information upon which to base a conclusion 
as to whether burglaries are increasing or decreasing. Likewise, to 
determine the efficiency of the captains and sergeants in their respective 
precincts, it is necessary to have comparative data available concerning 
the increase or decrease in crime, as shown by complaints affecting their 
precincts. It is difficult to understand how the chief can properlv super¬ 
vise his subordinates without this information and its continuous analysis. 

The chief and the administrative heads attempt to judge the efficiency 
of the department by the number of arrests made, as evidenced by the 
fact that the semi-annual report includes a statement showing the number 
of arrests made by each member of the department month by month. Xot 
only is this a false basis of judgment, since arrests only represent police 
successes, but, likewise, it is a practice long since condemned, because it 
was found to result in needless arrests and even malicious prosecutions— 
ambitious policemen finding it to their advantage to make many arrests. 

If the department is to be managed efficiently, a comprehensive re¬ 
porting system must be installed at once, which will disclose not only the 
success of the police, but also their failures, as represented bv complaints 
and action taken upon them. 

Therefore, it is recommended that the chief install a svstem of pre¬ 
cinct morning reports which shall contain an accurate description in 
tabular form of the duties performed by the members of the force attached 
to the precinct; the complaints received, classified as to subjects com¬ 
plained of: and the service rendered to citizens by the department. 

The form recommended for use in reporting precinct activities will be 
found described elsewhere in this report. 

Front these precincts morning reports there should be prepared a 
consolidated report containing a recapitulation of this information, and a 
copy of both reports should he delivered to the administrative head each 
morning. 

Hours of Duty for Captains Should be Changed 

The precincts are under the command of captains, who are on duty 
from s A. M. to 6 P. M. every day, with the exception of Saturday, when 
they remain on duty until midnight. Efficient police service demands that 
the patrol force receive constant supervision from superior officers, and, 
to exercise this supervision and keep control of the police conditions with¬ 
in a precinct, it is essential that the captains remain continuously within 
their precincts and on duty, except during ^uch times as leave may be 
granted. 

As shown by experience in most cities, the need for increased police 


160 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


protection and, consequently, the need for closest supervision of the force, 
is during the night hours. However, in Norfolk, except upon Saturday 
nights, and such times as the captains may voluntarily remain within their 
precincts after six o’clock, there is no commanding officer in charge of 
a precinct, the control being left in the hands of sergeants, desk and 
street, all of whom are of equal rank. 

Therefore, it is recommended that the hours of service of captains 
be changed so as to provide that the captains will remain continuously 
within their precincts, except when upon leave, during which time one 
of the sergeants attached to the precinct should be designated to serve 
as acting captain. 

The rules should provide for a definite number of hours of leave 
at intervals of not less than ten days. The captains should be required 
to sleep at the station houses a certain number of nights each month. 

Captain To Be In Command of Force All Night 

Under the present plan of organization, there is not one superiot 
officer on duty in command of the entire department during the night. It 
is important that there be available and on duty during the night hours 
some superior officer to whom the sergeants can look for directions and 
to whom they can report important unusual occurrences. If captains be 
required, as recommended, to sleep at the precinct station houses a 
number of nights each month, this may provide a commanding officer in 
charge. The procedure should require that each of the three captains 
remain at his precinct station-house all night every third night. This 
would mean that each captain would sleep at his station-house, subject to 
call, approximately two nights each week. The captain on reserve should 
be designated as the officer in command and the rules should provide that 
he be notified of important unusual occurrences. 

Captains Should Be Required to Perform Definite Tours of Patrol 

The rules should require that each captain patrol his entire precinct 
at least once in each twenty-four hours, and record the time of his tour 
upon the station-house desk blotter. 

Captains Should Enforce Discipline 

That the captains do not enforce proper discipline was apparent. 
For the lack of discipline the captains are principally responsible. While 
it is true that the patrol force is under the supervision of the patrol ser¬ 
geants, who are expected to see to it that the patrolmen cover their posts 
efficiently and appear neatly uniformed, it is equally true that the cap¬ 
tains are responsible for the supervision of all of the members of their 
commands. 

Therefore, the chief should insist upon the captain enforcing the rules 
of the department and maintaining the highest standard of discipline in 
their respective commands. 

Captain of the First Precinct Should be Relieved 
of Probation Work 

The captain of the first precinct, in addition to his police work as 
captain, serves as probation officer to the police court. Not only are 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


161 


adults placed under the probationary care of this captain, but also chil¬ 
dren of tender age. The use of the police in probation work, especially in 
the case of juvenile delinquents, is not in accordance with the best stand¬ 
ards. The most progressive procedure with regard to the care of juvenile 
delinquents and related probation work aims to remove the child from the 
jurisdiction of the police as far as possible. This policy is based upon 
mature judgment and long experience. Aside from the fact that it is not 
good policy, this captain, who is in command of the busiest precinct in the 
city, has sufficient police work to occupy all of his time. As a result, if 
he is to remain in charge of this precinct, and is also required to serve as 
probation officer, either his police work or the probation work must suffer. 

The conditions in the first precinct require constant supervision and 
energetic work on the part of the officer in charge. It is, therefore, recom¬ 
mended that this captain be relieved of probation work, and that these 
duties be performed by a regularly appointed civilian probation officer. 

Need for Appointment of Additional Sergeants 

There are twelve sergeants. Six are assigned to clerical duty as 
desk sergeants in the precinct station-houses, four are assigned to the 
supervision of patrol, one acts as a court officer, and one is in charge of 
the detective bureau. 

All of the sergeants work on twelve-hour tours. They are assigned 
to duty as follows: 

First Precinct 

2 sergeants to desk duty. 

2 sergeants to patrol. 

1 sergeant in charge of the detectives. 

1 sergeant as a court attendant. 

Second Precinct 

2 sergeants to desk duty. 

2 sergeants to patrol. 

Third Precinct 


Fourth Precinct 

2 sergeants to desk duty. 

Under this arrangement, there is no supervision through patrol ser¬ 
geants in either the third or fourth precincts, and but four sergeants are 
assigned to supervise patrol in the first and second precincts. 

The success of a police department in the suppression of crime and 
the apprehension of criminals depends upon the efficiency of the detective 
service and the faithfulness and intelligence of the patrol service. To 
insure the latter, continuous supervision, through the use of police ser¬ 
geants, is not only necessary but essential. 

The supervision necessary to produce competent patrol service can¬ 
not be had with four patrol sergeants. Four sergeants assigned to the 
supervision of patrol, working on twelve-hour tours, means but two ser- 


( 11 ) 



162 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


geants on the streets at any one time. Consequently, it is not surprising 
that the patrol force is not up to the required standard of efficiency. 

Therefore, it is recommended that the number of sergeants be in¬ 
creased from twelve to nineteen, and assigned to duty as follows: 


First precinct 
Second precinct 
Third precinct 
Fourth precinct 


8 

10 

1 

Recommended to be abolished. 


19 


Procedure for Assignment of Sergeants Should Be Changed 

The rank of desk sergeant should be abolished and all sergeants re¬ 
quired to perform both desk and patrol service. A straight three platoon 
system for sergeants should be adopted. This system would provide 
eight hours of continuous patrol, the sergeants alternating with each 
other upon desk and patrol service, and on the different tours, so that 
each sergeant would perform in the course of a year exactly the same 
amount and character of service. 

By employing nineteen sergeants, instead of twelve, provision will 
be made for a continuous supervision 'of the patrol force. It is, there¬ 
fore, recommended that the working schedule for the sergeants on duty 
be somewhat as follows: 

First precinct—1 sergeant on desk duty at all times. 

1 sergeant on patrol from 8 A. M. to -1 P. M. 

2 sergeants on patrol duty from 4 P. M. to 12 

midnight. 

2 sergeants on patrol duty from 12 midnight 

to 8 A. M. 

Second precinct—1 sergeant on desk duty at all times. 

1 sergeant on patrol duty from 8 A.M. to 4 P.M. 

3 sergeants on patrol duty from 4 P. M. to 12 

midnight. 

3 sergeants on patrol duty from 12 midnight 
to 8 A. M. 

Third precinct—i he patrol force to be supervised during the 

daytime by the captain and during the night 
from 9 P. M. to 5 A. M. by a sergeant. 

It is not required that the hours of tours of duty shall be confined 
to those above, but it is urged that the sergeants work on a three platoon 
system. 

During the course of the survey it was contended by some of the 
officers that all of the sergeants were not capable of performing desk 
duty, and that, therefore, the suggestion of having sergeants alternate 
between desk and patrol duty was not practical. The fact remains, how¬ 
ever, that all sergeants should be capable of performing any kind of 
police service. This would be possible if the sergeants were selected as a 
result of a competitive civil service promotional examination. 



POLICE DEPARTMENT 


163 


To increase the number of sergeants from twelve to nineteen will 
not necessitate the appointment of seven additional patrolmen, since with 
additional patrol sergeants on duty, in accordance with the suggested 
schedule, an equal amount of protection will be afforded through these 
officers while on patrol. The added cost for this additional and much 
needed supervision of the force will be the difference between the salaries 
paid patrolmen and their salaries as sergeants. 

Sergeants on Day Tours Should Patrol on Bicycles 

In order that the day sergeants may be enabled to visit all parts of 
their precincts, they should be equipped with bicycles. 

Sergeants Should Report Time of Meeting Patrolmen 

It is recommended that the sergeants be required to record in their 
memorandum books the time and place they meet each patrolman on each 
tour of patrol. The particular advantage of requiring the sergeant to note 
the time he meets a patrolman is that it will enable the chief or the captain, 
when reviewing these books, to see which of the patrolmen require the 
most supervision from the sergeants. For example, if a sergeant’s book 
shows the name of some patrolmen whom the sergeant "sees" two or 
three times a night, it will indicate to the captain or chief, either that the 
sergeant is "pounding" the patrolman, or that the patrolman is so derelict 
that he needs the constant attention of the sergeant. The captain will 
have an opportunity, upon learning this, to send for the policeman and 
warn him, or else discover from him that he is the victim of a grudge, 
or has some grievance. 

The patrolman should also be required to enter in their memorandum 
books the time and place they meet the sergeants. These books should 
be compared by the captain or chief in order to determine the accuracy 
of the reports. 

Younger and More Active Sergeants Needed 

To secure efficient supervision of the patrol force, it is necessary 
that the superior officers be energetic, active and well trained. This is 
especially true with regard to sergeants, who are the immediate supervi¬ 
sors of the patrolmen. 

In observing the patrolmen on their posts it is essential that the 
sergeants patrol the entire precinct or the section of the precinct to which 
they are assigned several times during a tour of duty. They should 
observe carefully all police conditions within the section of the city to 
which they are detailed, instruct the patrolmen in their duties, discip¬ 
line them when they are delinquent, and aid them in every way possible 
in the performance of their duties. 

• 

It is the experience of other cities that the best results are obtained 
through younger men. As will be seen by the table which follows, show¬ 
ing the ages of the present sergeants at the time of their appointment 
and at present, as well as the number of years of service, seven .of the 
sergeants are over 55 years of age, while four of these seven are HO or 
over; one has already reached his 70th year. It will also be noted from 
this table that of the four sergeants who are sixty or over, three have 
been in the service for only thirteen years, and one for but eight years. 


164 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


At the Time of 
Appointment 
to Force 

Present Age 

Number of Years 
in Service 

47 

60 

13 

54 

62 

8 

49 

62 

13 

48 

58 

10 

57 

70 

13 

31 

44 

13 

31 

35 

4 

33 

58 

25 

33 

43 

10 

32 

45 

13 

43 

49 

6 

45 

58 

13 


In the case of a commanding officer, such as the chief or even a 
captain, old age will not necessarily interfere with efficient service; still 
it must be said that old age is not conducive to energetic, efficient patrol 
service or supervision of the patrol service. 

That the majority of the sergeants are of an age that would inter¬ 
fere with the efficiency of their work is not due to their having grown 
old in the service, because but one of these seven sergeants has been 
in the service longer than 13 years. 

In New York and Chicago, after careful study and close observance 
of the work of policemen who had passed 60 years of age, it was con¬ 
cluded that, in order to maintain an active, energetic police force, it was 
necessary to make legislative provision empowering the administrative 
heads to compel the retirement upon pensions of policemen who had 
attained the age of 60 or over. Of course, since Norfolk has no pen¬ 
sion fund, it would not be possible at this time to retire the older ser¬ 
geants and policemen upon pensions, but at least the sergeants who 
are older than 60 years of age should be reduced to the rank of patrol¬ 
men, and, at such time as the city provides an equitable pension fund, 
they should be retired. 

Therefore, it is recommended that the chief reduce to the rank of 
patrolman all of the sergeants who are 60 years or over, and that they 
be detailed to duties not requiring active service. 

Sergeants Should Be Selected as a Result of Civil 
Service Promotion Test 

The successors of these sergeants should be appointed only after a 
suitable civil service promotional examination, and their appointment 
should depend entirely upon their ability and merit. They should serve 
as sergeants during good behavior. This will be found discussed more 
fully under the section of this report entitled “Promotions.” 

Licenses and Permits Issued by Police 

The police department issues and receives payment for dog tags, 
public chauffeurs’ badges, public porters’ licenses, and tags to be used 
on automobiles operated by physicians. For all of these, fees are charged. 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


165 


It is recommended that all of these licenses be issued through the 
financial officers and that no' moneys be collected for any purpose by 
the police department or its members. 

Approval of Police Chief Should Be Necessary Before 
Issuance of Licenses 

The procedure with regard to the issuance of licenses for busi¬ 
nesses coming under the jurisdiction of the police should be changed 
so as to give the chief of police power to pass upon the application for 
the license before it is issued. 

No license should be issued for a pool and billiard parlor, furnished 
room or boarding house, etc., unless the chief of police has made an 
investigation to determine whether or not the premises or person should 
be licensed and has personally approved the application. The procedure 
should require that all applications for such licenses shall be made to the 
chief of police, who should refer an application to the commanding 
officer of the precinct in which the proposed business is to be conducted 
for investigation and report. The commanding officers should be re¬ 
quired to report in detail upon their investigations, and to recommend 
the approval or disapproval of the application. The financial officers 
should be governed entirely by the action taken by the police in such 
matters. 

In connection with the licenses issued to public porters and public 
chaufiteurs, the applicants should be required to furnish two copies of 
their photographs—one to be attached to the application form and 
preserved as a record, and the duplicate to be placed upon the original 
license or permit to be carried by the holder thereof. 

Council Should Create a Municipal Pension System 

The city of Norfolk does not maintain any pension system, but 
policemen’s pensions are provided for through the Norfolk Police Pen¬ 
sion Fund Association, which is an association of the policemen, op¬ 
erating under a special charter. This fund, in which there is at present 
approximately $28,000, is made up of contributions from citizens, one 
per cent of the salaries of all of the policemen who are members thereof, 
and the revenues obtained from the collection of strayed, lost and aban¬ 
doned dogs. 

The theory of placing a pension fund in the hands of a private 
organization is wrong. If a policeman is expected to be courageous 
and fearless in the performance of his duties, the city must be financially 
prepared to provide an adequate pension in case of his disability or death. 
Police work carries with it extraordinary risks. The policeman leaving 
his wife and family in the evening to report for duty may never return 
alive. If lie should be called upon during his tour of duty to subdue 
a dangerous madman, to pursue a burglar, to quell a riot, or to enter 
a burning building to save human life, he should be able to take this 
risk with the assurance that, in the event of possible injury to himself, 
or sudden death, his wife and children, and those dependent upon him, 
will be amply provided for by the city. If a policeman is to be expected 


166 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


not to hesitate when duty calls him, an adequate pension system must 
be provided. 

Council should create a pension system to be operated, controlled 
and maintained by the municipal government, contributions being made 
by all members of the force in proportion to their salaries. Before 
any pension ordinance is adopted, a committee of council should be 
appointed to study pension systems, and to plan an improved type which 
would bring about the creation of a pension department or commis¬ 
sion to have charge and control of the pension system for all city 
employees. The present municipal pension systems in operation in 
other cities should not be taken as models. Recent investigations of 
the pension funds in the large cities of the United States showed that, 
in almost every instance, these funds are either insolvent or about to 
become insolvent, and have never been operated on a correct financial 
basis. 

Appointments 

Civil Service Requirements for Appointments Defective 

All appointments to the police department are made in accordance 
with the civil service rules and regulations as a result of a competitive 
examination. Appointments are made by the board of control upon 
the recommendation of the chief of police. They are not made in the 
order in which the names appear upon the eligible list, but, in accord¬ 
ance with the civil service rule, one out of each five names certified 
may be selected. The civil service examination as now prepared does 
not succeed in securing for the police department men of the standard 
of intelligence required. The examination is most superficial as, although 
the subjects covered in the test are practical and proper, the questions 
are not of a character which would test a man’s fitness for entering 
the police service. 

It is recommended that the administrative head urge upon the civil 
service commission the necessity of raising the standard of educational 
requirements in entrance examinations for police service. 

The relative weights for the subjects included in the examination 
of applicants are not assigned in accordance with good practice. The 
civil service commission assigns, on its own judgment, 40 out of the 
100 weights required, as follows: 

?0 for moral qualifications. 

10 for habits as regards sobriety and industry. 

10 for previous training and experience. 

Thus, the commission reserves to itself the right to control 40 of the 
100 weights to be given or withheld upon the basis of an interview with 
the applicant, while but 30 weights are allowed for the mental test and 
30 for the physical test. 

It is, therefore, recommended that the civil service commission re¬ 
assign the relative weights for the subjects included in the examination 
for original appointment as follows: 

40 for the mental test, 

40 for the physical examination, 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


167 


10 for experience, 

10 for personality: 

10 for above the average, 

7 for the average and 
3 for below average. 

The weights assigned for personality should be given as a result of an 
investigation as to the general habits and moral qualifications of the 
candidate, and not merely upon a personal interview; and, in all cases 
where the commission gives the full 10 weights for above the average, 
or 3 for below the average, the reasons for the conclusion should appear 
in the record. 

As to sobriety, no credit should be applied but, on the contrarv, 
any applicant who, upon investigation, is found to be of intemperate 
habits should have his name stricken from the list, without regard for 
weights obtained upon physical or mental test. 

The rating for experience should be made by the examiners who 
conduct the mental test, and should be based upon a written statement 
of the applicant’s previous training and experience. Such statements 
should not be taken upon their face value, but should be made the sub¬ 
ject of investigation, the results of which should also be included in 
the records of the commission. 

Record of Character Investigation Inadequate 

While all applicants for appointment are investigated by the chief 
of police immediately prior to their appointments, and are subjected 
to a personal inquiry by the members of the civil service commission, the 
officers conducting these investigations do not furnish the department 
with a report designed to indicate the thoroughness of their investiga¬ 
tions. These reports are made orally or in writing—in either case the 
officer conducting the investigation merely reports that he has found 
no reason why the applicant should not be appointed, or states that he 
has made a discovery which would make the applicant undesirable. Just 
how thorough the investigation was in any case could not be determined 
from the records, as there is no information as to the persons interviewed 
or the extent of the inquiry. 

It is recommended that in all character investigations the officers in 
charge be lequired to furnish the administrative head with a detailed 
written report, not only upon the result of the inquiry, but on the pro¬ 
cedure followed in the investigation. 

Department Not Adequately Protected Against Appointment 
of the Physically Unfit 

All applicants for appointment to the police department are given 
a physical examination by the health department doctors at the time 
of filing their applications. Under this system, an applicant may be in 
perfect health and receive the full 30 weights, and has his name placed 
upon the eligible list. His final appointment to the force may not be 
made, however, until two years later, at the time of the expiration of 
the list. In the meantime, this applicant may have contracted a disease 
or ailment which should serve to disqualify him and prevent his appoint- 


168 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


ment. But he would be appointed to the force, unless his ailment 
were such as might be discovered by mere observation on the part of 
the chief. 

In order that none but those physically fit shall become members 
of the police department, and to avoid unnecessarily increasing the pen¬ 
sion fund liability, in the event that the city should create a pension 
fund, it is recommended that all applicants for appointment receive a 
thorough physical examination and athletic test prior to taking the men¬ 
tal examination, another physical examination at the time of final appoint¬ 
ment, and still another at the end of the probationary period recommended 
elsewhere in this report. In no other way can the department adequately 
protect itself against the employment of physically disabled policemen. 

Age Requirements Should Be Changed 

Under the present civil service rules and regulations, the minimum 
age for appointment is fixed at 23 years and the maximum at 45 years. 
Prior to the establishment of the civil service commission, there were 
no age requirements, and, as a result, eleven members of the present 
force were appointed after they had passed their 50th year. In one 
instance, a man was appointed as a policeman at the age of 61. More 
than 22 per cent of the members of the force are over 55 years of age, 
notwithstanding that the majority of these men have only been in 
the service thirteen years. This points to the need for changing the age 
requirements. 

It is, therefore, recommended that the minimum age be changed 
to 21 years and the maximum age at the time of appointment to 30. 
This change is urged in order that young men may be induced to join 
the force, and as a protection to a pension fund should the city create 
one in the future. 

It is desirable to secure young men, because they respond more 
readily to training, and the department receives a longer period of 
service from them. 

If the maximum age requirement were 30 at the time of appoint¬ 
ment, men would be in the service for twenty-five years before reaching 
their 55th birthday. 

Applicants Should Be Required to Furnish Proof of Age 

The statement made upon the application blanks as to age is ac¬ 
cepted, and no further proof of age is required. It is recommended 
that each applicant be required to furnish proof of his age in the form 
of a birth or baptismal certificate, or an affidavit from those competent 
to state his age. 

No Probationary Period Required 

The civil service rules and regulations do not require that newly 
appointed policemen shall serve upon probation before final appoint¬ 
ment. The civil service commission accepts service rendered by a police¬ 
man as a substitute in lieu of a probationary period. This practice should 
be discontinued, and all newly appointed policemen required to serve 
upon probation for a period of six months before final appointment; 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


169 


and, at the end of this time, the administrative head should have the 
right to drop from the rolls any probationer whose service is unsatis¬ 
factory, as shown by reports of superior officers. In all such cases, the 
administrative head should certify in writing to the civil service com¬ 
mission the reasons for his action. 

Probationary Policemen Should Be Reported Upon in Writing 

Captains and sergants should be required to make monthly reports, 
in writing, upon all probationary policemen within their commands. 
These reports should contain detailed information as to the character of 
service performed. It should not be sufficient to state merely that the 
probationary patrolman rendered “ good service,” but the kind of service 
should be adequately described so as to enable the administrative head, 
at the end of the probationary period, to judge the fitness of the proba¬ 
tioner for police service. 

Promotions 

Enthusiasm and ambition lead to efficiency. Police efficiency de¬ 
pends almost entirely upon the enthusiasm and ambition of the members 
of the force. To develop enthusiasm and ambition, it is essential that 
promotional opportunity shall be ofifered to the members of the force, 
and that promotions be made solely upon ability and merit. 

Under the present system, promotions are made by the board of 
control upon the recommendation of the chief, without any civil service 
competitive examiatnion. In the past, each change of administration 
invariably resulted in a change in the personnel of the superior officers, 
and, even at present, the sergeants and captains who have been appointed 
for a term of two years may, at the discretion of the board of control, 
be reduced to the rank of patrolman at the end of the term. They enjoy 
practically no security of tenure. 

Inasmuch as no efficiency records are maintained, and no com¬ 
petitive examinations or tests conducted, it is difficult to understand 
on what basis a new chief would select his command officers, except as 
the result of political interference or suggestion. 

A contented force is usually an efficient force, but no force is 
contented where the members know or believe that their superior officers 
are selected not because of their experience, ability and superior intelli¬ 
gence, but for political reasons or as a result of favoritism. 

If a police force is to be efficient, it must be free from politics. 
If policemen are to be stimulated in their desire to perform faithful 
service, faithful service must carry with it promotional opportunity 
based on merit and merit alone. 

Therefore, it' is recommended that all promotions be made as a 
result of competitive civil service examinations, and in the order in 
which the names appear upon the civil service eligible list. 

Efficiency Records Should Be Maintained 

In order that efficient service may receive due consideration and 
reward in promotional tests, it is recommended that the civil service 


170 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


commission require the police department to install a system of efficiency 
records which will truly describe the quality of the work performed by 
the policemen. 

There are no efficiency records maintained at present, and. except 
for the record of the policemen’s delinquencies, the only basis of judg¬ 
ment as to the work performed by the policemen is the record of arrests. 
As already stated, this record is of little or no value in determining 
the efficiency of a policeman. Under such a plan, the policeman who 
succeeds in ridding his post of vicious characters and in suppressing 
crime would necessarily reduce the number of arrests which would be 
necessary in his territory. By his very admirable activity, his record for 
arrests would be so reduced as to make him appear less efficient, while, 
as a matter of fact, he would have performed the highest kind of efficient 
service. 

The promotional test which does not provide a method of rating 
the policeman upon the kind of service rendered by him does not succeed 
in securing the best kind of commanding officers. 

In giving efficiency ratings to the members of their commands, 
captains should consider carefully the following: 

1— General neatness and appearance. 

2— Intelligence in making of reports. 

3— Intelligence and success in presenting cases in 

court. 

4— General carriage of the men while on patrol,— 

whether they are alert and active, or careless 
and slovenly. 

5— Condition of the policeman’s memorandum book 

and the grade of the notations therein. 

G—Efficiency of patrolmen in observing and reporting 
matters of importance to other city departments, 
such as broken pavements, encumbered fire es¬ 
capes, encumbrances on sidewalks, street lamp 
outages, etc. 

7— Punctuality. 

8— Discipline. 

9— Reporting of suspected gambling and disorderly 

houses and other suspicious places on post. 

10—Willingness to perform extra duty. 

In connection with the efficiency records, a merit and demerit system 
should be developed which would provide merits for efficiency of service, 
and demerits for delinquencies. 

These monthly efficiency reports after having been reviewed by 
the chief, should be forwarded to the administrative head. 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


171 


Policemen Should Be Eligible for Promotion to Sergeant 
After Two Years 

All patrolmen should be eligible for promotion to the rank of ser¬ 
geant after two years of service, while sergeants should be eligible for 
promotion to the rank of captain after one year of service, and captains 
should be eligible to promotion to the rank of chief after three vears 
of service. 

Personal Bravery Not Rewarded 

Members of the force performing distinguished acts of bravery 
receive no departmental recognition. Moral and physical courage may be 
said to be the chief qualifications of an efficient policeman. Each is 
equally important. Moral cowardice is more dangerous than physical 
cowardice, yet it is of importance in developing efficiency in police 
work that policemen possess physical courage in the highest degree. 
There are times in the life of every policeman when he is called upon 
to risk his life in order to protect the lives of others. Therefore, no 
act of bravery involving the risk of life in its performance should go 
unrewarded. 

Board of Honor Should Be Established 

Distinguished acts of bravery should receive special departmental 
recognition, and, for purposes of making annual awards, there should he 
established a board of honor. This board should consist of the adminis¬ 
trative head, the chief of police, and the president of the civil service 
commission. To the policeman who performs the most distinguished act 
of bravery, in the opinion of the members of the board, should be awarded 
a gold medal to be officially known as the ''department medal" and to be¬ 
come the property of the policeman. Other members of the force per¬ 
forming acts of bravery should be awarded honorable mention. The 
presentation of the department gold medal should be made with fitting 
ceremonies on the day of general inspection or parade. The officer to 
whom the medal is awarded should be authorized to wear a small gold 
star or other insignia on the sleeve of his uniform, while the policemen 
receiving honorable mention should be authorized to wear a silver star. 

Care should be taken to investigate carefully all cases of bravery 
reported to the department, and evidence or testimony submitted should 
be recorded in the records of the department, and be open to public 
inspection. 

In the promotional tests, special weights should be given to the 
holders of the medals for bravery, and those to whom honorable mention 
has been awarded. 

A Medal Should Be Awarded for the Best Suggestions 

To encourage the policemen to study police procedure, and to keep 
them interested in the development of the department, it is urged that 
policemen be invited to make suggestions to the administrative head 
and the chief as to improved methods and procedure. To the policeman 
making the most practical suggestion for the improvement of the service, 
the board of honor should award a medal, and the civil service commis- 


172 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


sion should grant a special weight in promotional tests to the recipient 
of this medal. 

Training of Policemen 

* 

Training of Policemen Essential 

No provision is made for adequately training the policemen. Upon 
appointment, they are furnished a book of rules and regulations, and 
are required to study it. Sergeants are'supposed to instruct the police¬ 
men under their commands and, during the winter months, military 
drills are conducted in preparation for the annual inspection. 

The moment a patrolman is appointed he is assigned to duty and 
required to learn the duties of his office as best he can. He is not 
even placed under the charge of an older policeman or required to per¬ 
form duty with him for a definite number of days, so as to become familiar 
with the merest routine. He is not even instructed in the use and care 
of a revolver. 

Lack of Discipline Due to Lack of Training 

The general lack of discipline throughout the department may, in 
a way, be accounted for by the lack of training. Nothing is more pro¬ 
ductive of police inefficiency than lack of training. Certainly the police¬ 
man who has not been given an opportunity to acquire even a super¬ 
ficial knowledge of the duties required of him can scarcely be held 
strictly to account for his shortcomings. It is unreasonable to expect a 
policeman to enforce the laws and ordinances unless he has at least some 
idea of what the laws and ordinances are. The policeman who has re¬ 
ceived no training in court procedure and no instruction as to how to 
conduct himself in court can hardly be expected to present evidence to 
the court in such a manner as to obtain the desired results. 

To furnish policemen with revolvers and expect efficient and proper 
use of them in emergencies, without a single lesson in target practice, 
is but to endanger unnecessarily the lives of the citizens. An inspection 
of the revolvers carried by many of the policemen disclosed many un¬ 
clean and poorly cared for weapons, and a lack of intelligence on the 
part of the officers in handling them. In almost every case, the police¬ 
man, at the time of inspection, held his revolver pointed toward his body. 

While it is true that the chief endeavors to give the recruits a 
knowledge of the rules and regulations, and even of the local ordinances, 
it is, notwithstanding, a fact that the policemen do not receive the kind 
of training which results in efficiency in police service. The superior 
officers follow the policy that a policeman “learns from experience.” 
It was established long ago that this policy results in police inefficiency 
and police failures. 

Under the present system, it is not possible to impart to the recruit 
sufficient knowledge to fit him for the duties required of him. 

In no respect is the policeman of America so handicapped in com¬ 
parison with the policeman of Europe as in lack of scientific training. 
In Norfolk, as in most cities where the training is inadequate, an erro¬ 
neous idea has developed as to the proper duties of policemen. In many 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


173 


European cities, where proper methods of training are in use, the police 
officer and the citizen recognize that a policeman is not merely a peace 
officer or watchman, but that he is also a factor in carrying out the social 
service program of the municipality. 

It would indeed be difficult for the recruit to receive adequate train¬ 
ing in accordance with the most approved methods of instruction from 
the officers of Norfolk’s department, since these officers themselves 
while perhaps experienced through years of service, never received any 
scientific training. As an evidence of this fact, may be cited the lack 
of control exercised by these officers, and especially by the sergeants, 
over their respective subordinates. 

Training School for Police Service Recommended 

It is, therefore recommended that the members of the force be 
given proper training for their work. The instructions should be given 
not only to recruits, but to all members of the force as well. This can 
be done by establishing a training school for police service. There is 
ample room in the building occupied as police headquarters to accommo¬ 
date the students. The school should be under the charge of an experi¬ 
enced instructor assisted by a drill master. The school should be used 
to determine fitness for police duty, as well as for instruction for the 
force. The course should include instruction for a period of from thirty 
to ninety days in the following: 

Field work. 

First aid to the injured. 

English and report writing. 

Ethics and conduct. 

Practical civics. 

Sharpening powers of observation. 

Possibilities for social service work by policemen. 

The powers and duties of a policeman. 

The rules and regulations of the department. 

The penal laws of the state and the ordinances of 
the city. 

Pistol practice. 

Humane handling of prisoners. 

Criminal identification methods. 

The elemental rules of evidence. 

Court procedure. 

Probationary Patrolmen Should Be Assigned to Work with 
Specially Selected Policemen 

During the course of study at the school, the recruit should be 
given considerable field experience by assignment to duty in different 
sections of the city, with specially selected policemen. The recruit 
should be required to report in writing to the head of the school upon 
his experience in the field, and each report should receive a rating. 


174 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Course Should Include Training - for Detective Work 

In no branch of police work is scientific training more essential to 
efficiency than in detective work. 

It is now recognized that, as criminals specialize in their work and 
become more scientific not only in their methods of operation but also 
in methods of defeating the police, the more imperative is the need for 
specialization and scientific training of detectives. Because of the 
skill with which the criminals of today operate, a city can no longer hope 
to safeguard its citizens through the use of the old type of plainclothes- 
man whose only claim for assignment to detective work is political in¬ 
fluence. 

The detective must be more than a patrolman without a uniform. 
While it is important for the policeman to know how to apprehend a 
criminal, it is just as important for him to understand what evidence 
is necessary to secure, how to prepare his case for court, how to obtain 
a confession in such a manner as to make it admissible in court, how to 
preserve evidence, how to make memoranda at the time of arrest which 
will be admissible as evidence, and how to examine prisoners. In homi¬ 
cide cases, this is particularly important. Without such training, neither 
a patrolman or a detective can perform efficient service. It is a fre¬ 
quent mistake to disregard the importance of the uniformed patrolman 
in connection with the apprehension of criminals and the detection of 
crime, the belief being that such work is primarily detective work; hence, 
the patrolman's education in criminology and in methods of criminal 
identification is neglected. Instead of regarding every policeman as a 
detective, most departments regard their partolmen merely as watch¬ 
men. Through this mistake, according to the experience of police of¬ 
ficers all over this country, the blunder of the untrained uniformed police¬ 
man who first arrived at the scene of a crime has often resulted in 
failure either to catch the criminal, or make possible his conviction after 
arrest. Therefore, it is urged that every member of the force he given 
adequate training so that all will be qualified to perform detective duties. 

Courts Should Be Used as Laboratories 

The conduct of the policemen in court should be carefully observed 
bv superior officers. Their deficiencies in the presentation of cases in 
court should be noted, and officers especially deficient should be required 
to devote additional time to study in the school. 

The class should occasionally be taken to listen to the trial of cases 
in the upper courts and to the magistrate's hearing in the police court. 

Moot Courts Should Be Held 

In order that policemen may become thoroughly familiar with their 
part in court procedure, moot courts should be held and the officers 
required to prepare cases and to testify. 

Members of the Force Should Have Printed Instructions as to 
Procedure in Homicide Cases 

The commonwealth attorney should be requested to prepare a set 
of instructions as to the procedure to be followed in obtaining evidence 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


175 


in homicide cases, in preserving’ evidence, in examining prisoners while 
in custody, in obtaining statements from witnesses, in recording informa¬ 
tion, statements, or confessions of prisoners apprehended in connection 
with the crime, etc. These instructions should be printed and a copy 
furnished every member of the force. The printed copy should be of 
a size that will enable the policeman to carry it in his loose-leaf memo¬ 
randum book. 

Lectures by City Officers 

For purposes of minimizing the cost of conducting the training school 
and at the same time increasing its efficiency, city officers competent to 
instruct the police should be requested to lecture in the school. Lectures 
on first aid to the injured should be given by the surgeon assigned to 
the police and fire departments. The commonwealth attorney should 
be requested to lecture on court procedure and rules of evidence. The 
Bertillon operator should be require to lecture on methods of criminal 
identification, and to give practical demonstrations in the taking and 
recording of Bertillon measurements, in observing facial characteristics 
of criminals, in taking and classifying fingerprints, in protecting against 
erasure any fingerprints found at the scene of a crime and in photo¬ 
graphing them. (This, of course, can only be done after the Bertillon 
operator has been fully trained.) One of the officers of the national 
guard should be assigned to conduct a military drill. The commissioner 
of health should lecture upon the provisions of the health ordinances and 
the manner in which they should be enforced by the police. The city 
attorney should be requested to lecture upon the city ordinances and the 
manner of enforcing them, and the various public works officers should 
be requested to instruct the partolmen how to make proper observations 
and reports concerning street conditions which should be called to the at¬ 
tention of other city departments. 

Written Tests Should Be Conducted 

At the conclusion of each course of lectures, a written test should 
be conducted, and the ratings obtained by the patrolmen in these tests 
should be given consideration in determining their efficiency records. 

The instructor in charp-e of the school should file a written report 
with the chief and administrative head concerning the efficiency shown 
by the recruits during their course of instruction. This report should 
be based upon the results of written tests and observations of patrolmen 
in the field. Upon these reports the administrative bead should rely for 
his information as to the advisability of granting final appointments. 

Surgeons for Police and Fire Departments 

Health Department Physician Should Be Assigned to 
Care of Policemen and Firemen 

Policemen absenting themselves from duty because of illness are al¬ 
lowed no compensation during absence except when they have been 
severely injured in the performance of their duty. When a policeman 
becomes ill and finds it necessary to remain off duty, he reports this fact 
to his commanding officer by telephone or otherwise, and a substitute is 
employed in his place. He is not visited by any physician representing 


176 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


the city, either to give him medical aid or to determine whether his 
absence is due to illness or to some other cause. 

Because the policemen do not receive any compensation while absent 
on sick leave and substitutes are available, neither the chief nor his com¬ 
manding officers attempt to determine whether policemen are feigning 
illness. The number of days lost by policemen, during the year from 
October, 1914, to October, 1915, was 2,769 )/ 2 days, or an average of 19)4 
days for each member of the force. Part of this was undoubtedly a 
result of this lack of supervision. During this period, out of 1,369 cases of 
absence, 75 per cent, were alleged to be due to sickness, while the other 
25 per cent, were excused for other reasons. 

The department employs no police surgeon and there is no medical 
supervision of the force whatever, either as an aid to the health of the 
policemen or for purposes of discipline. 

The city physician and the medical staff of the health department 
are used to furnish medical or surgical attention to prisoners at police 
stations, or to persons injured upon the highways. They are at the call 
of the police department. By arrangement with the health office, the 
police are required to summon the doctors in emergency cases, in the 
order in which their names appear upon the list. Thus, if a prisoner 
becomes ill, the sergeant on desk duty in the precinct where the prisoner 
is being attended summons the city physician first. If he is. unable to 
locate him, he summons the next doctor on the list, and so on until he has 
exhausted the list. According to the chief of police and his subordinate 
officers, this plan has not given satisfaction. Many times delays are caused 
in emergency cases because of the inability of the police to locate the phy¬ 
sicians whose names appear upon the list. 

A majority of the cases of illness of prisoners merely require surgi¬ 
cal dressings for abrasions, cuts, and occasionally for fractures. 

Because of the character of the work performed by police and fire¬ 
men, it is deemed important that the health of these city employees be 
carefully guarded, and that they receive medical service without charge. 

It is obvious that to secure efficient police and fire service the police¬ 
men and firemen must be kept in good health. To this end, it is neces¬ 
sary that they be under the constant care and observation of a physician. 
Because of the comparatively small number involved, it would not be 
necessary to retain the services of a physician to serve as police and fire 
surgeon, but it is recommended that the health commissioner designate 
one member of his staff to attend the policemen and firemen, both as 
medical aid and disciplinarian. This could be done without much added 
expense by assigning these duties to the physician recommended to super¬ 
vise the dispensary. (See report on health department.) This officer 
should also attend prisoners in need of medical aid or surgical attention. 

Policemen Should Be Paid Half Salary When Absent on Sick Leave 

It is not economy for the city to excuse from duty members of the 
force on their mere statement that they are ill, simply because they 
receive no compensation during their absence, inasmuch as the service 
which the city receives from the substitutes who takes the place of the 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


177 


policemen when absent is not and cannot be as efficient as that rendered 
by regularly appointed policemen, although they receive the same rate of 
compensation. 

The aim of the administrative head should be to reduce the absences 
to the lowest number of days possible, and to keep the policemen and 
firemen in good health, and to eliminate from the forces members who 
are of intemperate habits or physically unfit for their duties. However, 
w hen policemen and firemen do become ill because of the nature of their 
duties, there is an obligation on the part of the city to aid them financially, 
even if their illness cannot be directly traced to an injury received in the 
immediate performance of duty. 

Therefore, it is recommended that provision be made to pay firemen 
and policemen half salary for time lost due to ordinary illness, and full 
pay when the illness is the direct result of an injury received in the per¬ 
formance of duty. It is also recommended that a definite procedure for 
the surgeon assigned to this work be adopted. The procedure should 
provide that all policemen and firemen be subjected to an annual phvsical 
examination. This examination should be conducted with a view to 
discovering physical defects in the men and remedying them. It should 
also be required that every fireman and policeman, upon becoming ill, 
should immediately notify his precinct commander, who in turn should 
notify the surgeon assigned to the care of the police and fire forces. If 
the illness is such as to prevent the sick officer from calling at the dis¬ 
pensary, the surgeon should be required to go to the home of the officer, 
make an examination if necessary, prescribe for the patient, and determine 
the probable cause and duration of the illness. Immediately thereafter, 
the surgeon should be required to file a written report upon the case 
with the chief of the fire department or chief of police as the case may be. 
He should state in this report the probable duration of the illness. The 
purpose of this is to keep the chiefs informed of the probable absences in 
order that they may employ substitutes or make other provision. 

Proper Health Records Should Be Maintained 

The surgeon should be required to maintain proper health records 
of the policemen and firemen, and also detailed records as to prisoners 
attended by him. These records should include the result of the original 
examination at the time of appointment, and a health sheet showing a 
detailed history of all illnesses. 

Surgeon Should Inspect Station-Houses and Give Advice 
to the Force 

For the guidance of the administrative head, a sanitary inspection 
of the police station-houses and cell rooms should be made by the surgeon 
at least bi-monthly, and reports made of his inspection. The surgeon 
should prepare a set of instructions upon general hygiene which should 
be printed and supplied each member of the force. Hither this surgeon 
or the health commissioner should deliver lectures to the men in the 
school and advise them as to the general care of the body necessary to 
maintain good health. 

Surgeons Should Make Monthly Report 

Each month the surgeon should file a report with the chief of police. 


(12) 


178 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


the chief of the fire department and the administrative head, showing the 
health conditions of both forces and the number of cases of illness, the 
causes, the time lost, and the names of the policemen and firemen treated. 
The report should include a statement as to prisoners treated at station- 
houses or persons aided on emergency calls. The report concerning the 
members on sick leave should show not only the duration of their ill¬ 
nesses during the current month, but the total number of days lost due 
to illness up to date in the current year. 

If this procedure is followed, and the surgeon exercises diligence 
in the examination of the policemen and firemen, it will be found as 
economical in the long run to pay the policemen and firemen during ab¬ 
sence because of genuine illness as is the present system of excusing 
policemen on their mere statement of alleged illness. 

Surgeon Should Not Be Permitted to Have Business 
Relations with Members of the Force 

Under no circumstances should the surgeon be permitted to have 
any business relation with any member of the fire or police departments, 
or with their families. 

Sanitary Conditions of Station-Houses 

All of the station-houses were visited and inspected and, for the most 
part they were found to be clean and orderly. 

Cell-Houses Not of Modern Type 

The cell-houses in the first and second precincts are of the old 
steel cage type with no running water and defective cell plumbi ng. The 
cells in both of these houses need painting, and it is recommended that 
they be painted white when renovated. The lights in the cell-houses 
are very poorly arranged, being placed in the corridor with no lights in 
the cells. 

It is recommended that at such time as the city is financiallv able to 
change the form of these cell-houses, modern cell toilets be installed, each 
cell to be equipped with an individual light, protected in such a manner 
as to prevent the prisoners from tampering with it. 

During the winter months, blankets are provided for the prisoners. 
These blankets are laundered but twice a year. Those observed in use 
were so unclean as to be actually insanitary. If blankets are to be used, 
it is recommended that they be laundered after each time used. If the 
cell-houses were properly heated, it would be unnecessary to use blankets 
at all. 


Uniforms and Equipment 

The uniforms worn by the members of the force, except in minor 
respects, are of a modern type. The patrolman’s uniform coat is 
equipped with a roll collar which tends to make him appear untidy. The 
modern standard military collar should be adopted. 

Modern Shield Recommended 

The shield worn by the members of the force is of the same design 

o 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


179 


that has been in use for many years. It is the commonest design in use 
by police officers, and does not contain the number of the patrolman 
conspicuously displayed. It is, therefore, recommended that the design 
of this shield be changed and that one be selected which will diplay the 
patrolman s number in a conspicuous manner. The shield worn by the 
superior officers should be of an entirely different design from that worn 
by patrolmen. 

Policemen Should Wear Service Insignia 

The policemen do not at present wear service stripes or any insignia 
to indicate the length of their service. It is recommended that the length 
of service of the members of the force be indicated by some insignia on 
the coat sleeve. Service stripes are not recommended, however, since small 
emblems such as a star, small bars and the like are preferable. 

Policemen Should Not Be Permitted to Wear Society 
Emblems Exposed 

A number of policemen were observed wearing, as watch charms, 
rings, etc., emblems of fraternal and secret societies. No policemen, 
whether performing duty in citizens clothes, or uniform, should be per¬ 
mitted to wear exposed an emblem of any fraternal, secret, political or 
other society. 

Use of Standard Revolvers Recommended 

The rules of the department require policemen to carry at all times 
when on duty a Smith & Wesson 42-calibre revolver, which is now sup¬ 
plied by the department. Notwithtsanding the order upon this subject, 
it was found, upon inspection, that six different kinds of revolvers were 
being carried, some of an inferior make and others of the magazine type. 

It is recommended that the chief cause all of the revolvers of the 
department to be inspected, and the men be required to carry the standard 
make prescribed by the rules. 

Revolvers Should Be Regularly Inspected 

As already recommended, the policemen should receive instructions 
in the care and handling of fire arms. The revolvers inspected were in 
many cases so unclean and in such poor condition as to indicate either 
that the policemen did not understand how to clean a revolver properly 
or that they were careless. In either case, they should be disciplined. 
The sergeants should be required to inspect thoroughly the revolvers of 
the members of their command at least once a month, in addition to the 
regular inspection at each outgoing roll call. 

Revolvers Should Be Carried in the Blouse Instead 
of Hip Pocket 

The present practice of carrying the pistol in the hip pocket should 
be abandoned, and the regulations should require that the revolvers be 
carried in a holster in the blouse on the left side so as to be available in 
emergency. 

Method of Purchasing Uniforms Defective 

Patrolmen are required to purchase and pay for all of their uniforms 


180 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


and equipment with the exception of the baton, buttons, emblems and 
revolvers. The average cost of a policeman’s uniform and equipment 
for his first year of service is $56.15. The city makes no contribution 
toward this sum, nor is provision made to advance money to the recruits. 
For the purpose of providing a uniform grade and color of cloth, the city 
issues specifications and advertises for bids. The lowest bidder is desig¬ 
nated as the official tailor, and the members of the force are directed to 
purchase their uniforms from this tailor. 

It is recommended that the city supply and pay for the uniforms and 
equipment used by policemen and that provision be made for purchase 
under contract. If the city is financially unable to defray this expense, at 
least the department should make provision for purchasing uniforms so 
that they could be furnished to the policemen at the actual cost of pro¬ 
duction, the city to pay the original cost and to be reimbursed in equal 
monthly installments by each member. 

Uniform Rubber Coats Should Be Used 

The rules do not require the use of a uniform rubber coat and, in 
consequence, in rainy weather various kinds of rubber coats and mackin¬ 
toshes may be seen in use. It is recommended that the rubber coats, boots 
and cap cover be a part of the regular uniform. 

Use of Horse-Drawn Patrols Should Be Abandoned 

The department owns and maintains three patrol wagons, two horse- 
drawn and one motor-driven. The motor-driven automobile is entirely 
too large for service in Norfolk. It is recommended that the two horse- 
drawn vehicles be discontinued and that small motor-driven patrols be 
provided. The cost of maintaining the small modern type of automobile 
patrol is much less than the cost of maintaining a horse-drawn patrol. 
The speed with which motor-driven patrols can respond to calls and the 
distances which can he covered make their use not only an economy but 
most desirable. 

The two small motor-driven patrols recommended should be equipped 
with door on the rear, in the same manner as are most prison vans, so 
that it will not be necessary to assign conductors. When the prisoners 
are placed in the wagon by the driver and the arresting officer, the door 
of the patrol should be locked from the outside. If possible, the large 
automobile patrol now owned by the city should be sold and replaced by a 
smaller one. 

Purchase of An Adding Machine Recommended 

The statistics which should be compiled at the police department, 
especially if the record systems proposed in this report are installed, would 
necessitate including an adding machine in the equipment of the chief's 
office at police headquarters, and the purchase of one is recommended. 

Arrests 

Patrolmen Should Be Required to Make Written 
Reports Upon Arrests 

Persons arrested by patrolmen on the patrol posts are sent to the 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


181 


police station in patrol wagons, except in cases of arrests made in the 
vicinity of the police station or of children taken into custody. 

The policemen delivers his prisoner to the conductor of the patrol 
wagon and informs him of the complaint upon which he arrested the 
prisoner. He does not, however, give the conductor of the patrol any 
detailed statement of facts as to the cause for arrest, and consequently 
the records at the precinct house contains merely the title of the charge; 
for example, "petty larceny,” “drunkenness,” “disorderly conduct,” “as¬ 
sault,” etc. Thus the records are incomplete as to information concerning 
the arrests, and, because of the absence of this' information, the com¬ 
manding officers are deprived of any opportunity to checking the testi¬ 
mony of the policemen in the courts. The procedure with regard to 
arrests should be changed so as to require patrolmen, upon making arrests 
and sending their prisoners to the station in the patrol, to forward with 
the patrol conductor on a special printed form a brief statement of fact 
as to the cause for the arrest. This statement should include the nature 
of the crime and the location and conditions under which it was com¬ 
mitted. For example, if the prisoner were arrested for public intoxication, 
the patrolman's report should be as descriptive as the following illustra¬ 
tions : 

“Found the prisoner lying on sidewalk at corner of A 
and Y streets, at 9.15 P. M. Was so intoxicated as 
to be unable to walk. Crowd gathered around.” 

And in the case of assault or disorderly conduct, sufficient descrip¬ 
tive data should be given to form the basis of proper record, as for exam¬ 
ple : 

“Arrested defendants, John Blank and James White, at 
the corner of R and T streets, where they were en¬ 
gaged in a fist fight in front of premises 214 R 
street. Both were using loud and profane lan¬ 
guage ; crowd had collected; both appeared to be 
intoxicated.” 

Procedure for Record of Prisoner’s Pedigree Should Be Revised 

Prisoners, when brought to the police station, are arrainged before 
the desk sergeant and searched in his presence by the turnkey and con¬ 
ductor of patrol. The procedure for recording and caring for property 
taken from prisoners is good, except that an entry of the property taken 
from prisoners should be made in the record of arrests, the use of which 
is recommended elsewhere in this report. After the prisoners is searched, 
his pedigree is taken and entered upon a slate which is an informal 
record. The statement recorded as a pedigree is not sufficiently detailed 
to furnish the information as to arrest and reasons therefor. 

it is recommended that the following information concerning each 
arrest be recorded in the record of arrests: 

Name. 

Time of arrest. 

Charge. 

Residence. • 


182 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Age. 

Sex. 

Nativity. 

Color. Nativity of father. 

Occupation. 

Married or single. 

Read and write. 

Name of officer making the arrest. 

Name of complainant. 

Residence of complainant. 

Name of the patrol conductor. 

The information about arrests is copied from the slate on the fol¬ 
lowing morning into what is termed the “court return.” It is recom¬ 
mended that the pedigree of the prisoner be recorded in the record of 
arrests in the presence of the prisoner at the time he is arraigned in the 
station-house—this to be the permanent precinct record of arrests which 
will be fully described in this report. 

In this report should also be recorded any marks of violence or 
bruises on the prisoner which may be observed by the desk sergeant or 
the turnkey. Likewise, if the prisoner is attended by a physician, a report 
of this service should be entered in the record of arrests. 

Norfolk Has Inebriety Problem to Solve 

That Norfolk has an inebriety problem to solve is indicated by 
the fact that approximately 22 per cent, of the total number of arrests 
made are for what is termed in the police records “intoxication.” This 
figure does not include arrests for intoxication accompanied by other 
crimes, such as disorderly conduct, in which cases the records show the 
charge “disorderly conduct,” thus making it impossible to learn from 
the records all cases in which the defendants were intoxicated. 

An analysis of the arrests made for the past five years shows that 
but little progress has been made in the treatment of inebriety cases. 
It points to a need for a study of the inebriety situation with a view to 
legislation enabling the city to change its official procedure in the handling 
of inebriety cases. 

Additional Information Concerning Arrests for Intoxication 
Should Be Recorded 

Inasmuch as the department records as at present maintained do 
not furnish information which would serve as a basis for a study or 
analysis of the cases of inebriety in Norfolk, it is recommended that more 
detailed records of intoxication cases be kept. For this purpose, a card 
record of all intoxication cases should be established and a definite pro¬ 
cedure for recording information concerning these cases should be pro¬ 
vided. 

Special cards with printed headings calling for complete informa¬ 
tion concerning the history of persons arrested for intoxication should 
be supplied each station-house. These cards should require, among 
other things, the following information to be entered in each case: 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


183 


Name. 

Address. 

Age. 

Sex. 

Nationality. 

Married or single. 

If married, number of children and their ages. 

If single, persons dependent on prisoner for support. 

Condition of prisoner when brought into station as to degree 
of intoxication. 

Short history of cause for arrest. 

Whether arrested before. 

If so, how many times. 

Occupation. 

Salary received. 

Employed or unemployed. 

If unemployed, how long. 

Education—under this heading the prisoner should be required 
to state definitely whether his education covered common 
school, high school, or college. 

At what age prisoner first took intoxicating drinks. 

At what age prisoner began to drink excessively. 

What form of intoxicating liquor the prisoner is in the habit 
of drinking. 

Whether prisoner has ever taken any special drink cure; if so, 
when and what treatment. 

Whether prisoner has ever been convicted of a crime; if so, 
how much time spent in jail. 

Disposition of case. 

If the prisoner is so intoxicated at the time of arrest as to be unable 
to answer these questions intelligently, he should be required to answer 
them before being arraigned in the magistrate’s court in the morning. 

After the cards are made out they should be forwarded to police 
headquarters and there filed alphabetically. The facts listed should be 
tabulated and studied. 

Captains Have No Power to Discharge Prisoners Arrested 
for Intoxication 

Except where an intoxicated person is disorderly or so drunk as to 
be unable to reach home safely, no arrest should be made. The state 
law should be amended so as to provide that desk sergeants or captains, 
upon taking the necessary pedigree upon the cards referred to above, 
should have the power to discharge from custody prisoners arrested fo r 
intoxication, where no charge of disorderly conduct is made, when the} 
become sober and are in condition to go home. The law should further 
provide that, in cases where the record shows a prisoner to be a second 
or third offender or a habitual drunkard, he should be detained and 
arraigned before the police justice. 

Some idea of the amount of time consumed in the arrest of intoxi¬ 
cated persons and their subsequent arraignment in tbe court can be had 
from the statement that, during the year 1914-1915, there were 2,122 


184 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


persons arrested charged with intoxications, representing approximately 
21 per cent, of the total number of arrests for the year. Of the persons 
arrested for intoxication, the majority were discharged in the police court. 

While it is impossible to estimate to what degree needless arrests 
for intoxication are made, it is, however, quite apparent that many pf the 
persons arrested on this charge need not have been taken to the station- 
house. 

Each precinct should maintain a duplicate set of the card records of 
persons arrested for intoxication. Patrolmen should be instructed to 
use more intelligence in dealing with intoxicated persons. 

Number of Arrests Excessive—Percentage of Dismissals Too High 

An examination of the record of arrests and dispositions discloses 
the fact that the number of arrests made are excessive for a city with 
the population of that of Norfolk, and the number of dismissals, which 
averaged for the last five and a half years approximately 47 per cent, of 
the cases arraigned, indicate either that many of the arrests were unnec¬ 
essary or that the judges were too lenient. 

The following table shows the number of arrests, convictions and 
dismissals by years for the past six years: 

Per cent. 


Arrests 

Total No. 

Total No. of 

Total No. 

Dis¬ 

Year Male 

Female 

of Arrests 

Convictions 

Dismissed 

missed 

1909-10 8,011 

1,965 

9,976 

5,841 

4,135 

41.5 

1910-11 9,087 

2,250 

11,337 

6,013 

5,324 

46.9 

1911-12 9,338 

2,090 

11,428 

5,744 

5,684 

49.7 

(28 

cases pending) 




1912-13 9,276 

2,070 

11,346 

5,760 

5,586 

49.25 

1913-14 5,087 

1,239 

6,326 

3,228 

3,098 

49. 





(6 mos. only 

1914-15 8,621 

Year ending 

2,003 

10,624 

5,515 

5,109 

48.1 

June 30 







A detailed study of the arrests made shows that the large number of 
arrests is not entirely due to police inefficiency but rather to the ease 
with which warrants may be secured from justices of the peace. Many of 
* the arrests made by the police department are made upon warrants issued 
by justices of the peace. These arrests, of course, the police must make 
and they can exercise no discretion as to the propriety of the arrest. 

An examination of a number of the warrants upon which persons 
were arrested and arraigned in court indicated that the justices of the 
peace are given to issuing warrants in many cases which are civil causes 
of action rather than criminal, and in other cases where the facts do not 
warrant the arrest of the person accused. This is particularly true with 
regard to cases affecting colored persons. Of a total of 5,821 dismissals 
of cases in the police court alone, from October, 1!)14, to September, 1915, 
585 dismissals w r ere upon what are known as “withdrawals” of justices’ 
warrants. 

It is, therefore, recommended that council, the chief of police, the 
police court justice and the justices of the peace confer upon this subject 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


185 


with a view to reducing the number of needless and unjustified arrests, 
both on the part of the police officers themselves and the justices who 
issue warrants. It is to be noted, however, that since warrants are issued 
upon a fee basis tbe justices of the peace are naturally inclined to issue 
them without serious cause. 

Records Should Show Arrests Upon Justices’ Warrants as 
Distinguished from Arrests Without Warrants 

Because of the manner in which the records are kept, it was not 
possible to ascertain the number of arrests made upon warrants issued by 
justices of the peace as distinguished from arrests made by officers on 
their own initiative. In order that the administrative head and the public 
may have a full understanding of the situation with regard to arrests, it 
is recommended that in all records of the police department the statistics 
show the arrests made upon warrants issued by justices and their disposi¬ 
tion separate and apart from the arrests made upon the officers’ own 
initiative and the disposition of these cases. In this way the administra¬ 
tive head will be able to determine whether or not the police officers are 
making unnecessary arrests. 

Police Officers Should Obtain Warrants for Violation of 
Ordinances from Police Court Justice 

Under the present statutes the justices of the peace receive 
a fee of fifty cents for every warrant issued by them for a violation of an 
ordinance. These warrants are commonly known as city warrants. The 
city is required to pay the fee in these cases whether or not the warrant 
is served. These cases include violations of traffic ordinances and viola¬ 
tions of other regulative ordinances. There can be no justification for the 
city's paying this fee to justices of the peace while the city maintains a 
police court and pays the salary of the police justice. 

Therefore, it is recommended that the board of control or tbe ad¬ 
ministrative head issue an order to the police force to the effect that all 
warrants for violations of city ordinances be secured from the police 
court judge and not from justices of the peace, thereby saving to the city 
the fees which are now paid to the justices. 



Distribution of the Force 


Organization 

For Administration 


Number 

1 

o 

O 

Title 

Mayor 

(With statutory administrative powers) 

Members of board of control (adminis¬ 
trative heads of all city departments). 

Salary 

•k 


♦Salaries not charged against police appropriation. 




NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 



Uniform Force 


Number 

Rank 

Salary 

1 

Chief 

$2,400.00 

o 

») 

Captains 

1,320.00 

12 

Sergeants 

1,146.48 

125 

Patrolmen 

2.80 per day 

141 

Civilian Employees 


Number 

Grade 

Salary 

1 

Stenographer to chief 

$660 

1 

Matron 

600 

1 

fanitor 

660 

1 

lanitress 

240 

1 

Assistant janitress 

180 

o 

/V 

[anitresses 

180 each 

1 

Janitress 

90 

8 




The members of the force are distributed and assigned to duty as 
follows: 

Patrolling of posts: 

91 patrolmen. 

Detective bureau: 

1 sergeant in charge. 

8 detectives (patrolmen detailed to detective duty). 

1 Bertillon operator (patrolman detailed). 

For the regulation of traffic : 

2 mounted policemen. 

4 foot policemen. 

For the care of prisoners: 

8 turnkeys (patrolmen detailed). 

For the enforcement of speed laws and ordinances: 

3 motorcycle policemen. 

For the serving of warrants: 

1 patrolman. 

For the inspection and special protection of vacant houses: 

1 patrolman. 

For clerical services at headquarters: 

1 patrolman. 

For the patrol service: 

2 chauffeurs (policemen detailed). 

2 conductors (policemen detailed). 

For special service at cemetery: 

1 patrolman. 

For service at the mayor’s office and police court:. 

1 sergeant. 

Temporary Employees 

In addition to the regular employees listed above, there are employed 



POLICE DEPARTMENT 


187 


on a temporary basis eleven substitute policemen who receive $2.80 for 
each day's work. They serve in the place of policemen absent and are 
designated from the civil service eligible list. 

Unit of Distribution—The Precinct 

The city is divided into four sections known as precincts and policed 
by members of the force detailed to duty therein. Jn each precinct there 
is a station-house. Three of these precincts are under the command 
of a captain, while the fourth is in charge of sergeants. 

Fourth Precinct Should Be Abolished 

To police the fourth precinct, which is a suburban district, there are 
assigned fifteen policemen and two sergeants. The building occupied as a 
police station is rented and is maintained by the city. The section of this 
precinct included in the seventh ward is policed by patrolmen employed 
by the ward supervisors under the supervision of the chief of police of 
Norfolk. As this section is wholly residential there is no need for main¬ 
taining a police station in it, nor for establishing a separate precinct. The 
number of men detailed to the section is excessive and should be reduced. 

It is, therefore, recommended that this precinct be abolished and 
this section of the city be included within the boundaries of the second 
precinct. For purposes of policing the territory, it is recommended that 
two police patrol booths be erected and equipped with telephones. To 
each patrol booth there should be assigned three policemen, working on 
eight hour shifts. The policemen should be equipped with motorcycles or 
bicycles and remain on duty at the booths subject to call. Three police¬ 
men also working on eight hour shifts should be assigned to patrol the 
precinct between the booths on motorcycles. Thus the total number 
of policemen assigned to the section now known as the fourth precinct 
would be nine, all of whom should be motorcycle or bicycle men. 

The residents of the neighborhood should be notified of the telephone 
numbers of these booths and instructed to call a booth in case of emer¬ 
gency. 

The sergeants assigned to supervise the patrolmen in this section 
should be equipped with motorcycles or bicycles. 

Details Which Should Be Abolished 

It is recommended that the detail of the policemen to the cemetery, 
the policemen detailed to observing and inspecting vacant houses, and 
the sergeant serving as court officer and attendant to the mayor be re¬ 
manded to active patrol service. There is no need of detailing a policeman 
to the cemetery. Vacant houses should be looked after by the patrol force 
and the sergeants and in some instances by the detective bureau. There 
are always sufficient officers in court in connection with arraignments 
and witnesses to preserve order and there is surely no need of having a 
sergeant of police to guard the mayor. 

Appointment of Additional Policemen Not Recommended 

The total force consists of 141 members, of whom 125 are patrol¬ 
men. Of this number 91 constitute the active patrol force, the remaining 
34 being detailed to duties other than patrol. While the population and 


188 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


area of the city are such as would seem to indicate that Norfolk’s police 
force is too large, the records of the department with relation to the crime 
conditions make it impossible to determine the actual number of men 
required. Of course, population and area do not give a scientific basis for 
estimating the amount of police protection required. Neither do these 
two elements furnish a basis for control over the distribution of police¬ 
men. 

By comparison with other cities in the United States of approximately 
equal population, the city of Norfolk, to say the least, has enough police¬ 
men as shown by the table which follows: 


City Population 

Area in 
Sq. Miles 

Total No. 
of Force 

Appropria- Per Capita 
ation Cost 

Birmingham, Ala. 

190,000 

52 

119 

$156,720 

$ .82 

Scranton, Pa. 

111,351 

19.3 

129 

129,275 

1.09 

Richmond, Va. 

137,000 

12.5 

163 

211,000 

1.56 

Spokane, Wash. 

135,657 

10 

108 

117,226 

1.09 

Omaha, Neb. 

133,271 

21.5 

111 

172,500 

1.29 

Dayton, Ohio 

123,791 

16.6 

109 

156,130 

1.26 

Grand Rapids, Mich. 

123,227 

18 

110 

225,391 

1.83 

llridgeport, Conn. 

115,289 

11 

130 

231,513 

2.01 

Nashville, Tenn. 

111,899 

18.2 

142 

180,752 

1.57 

Dallas, Texas 

111,986 

18 

117 

158,827 

1.42 

Lowell, Mass. 

111,001 

14.5 

127 

165,000 

1.49 

New Bedford, Mass. 110,000 

19.5 

172 

185,000 

1.68 

Salt Lake City, Utah 

109,530 

17 

100 

140,000 

1.26 

Trenton, N. J. 

106,831 

9 

147 

175,769 

1.65 

Reading, Pa. 

103,361 

6 

95 

72,787 

.70 

Des Moines, Iowa 

100,000 

51 

86 

103,000 

1.03 

Akron, Ohio 

100,000 

12 

65 

78,000 

,78 

Camden, N. J. 

100,000 

7.6 

154 

169,480 

1.69 

Lynn, Mass. 

Peoria, Ill. 

90,000 

11.3 

99 

124,000 

1.37 

90,000 

9.7 

87 

93,865 

1.04 

NORFOLK 

88,076 

9.5 

141 

157,825 

1.79 

Jacksonville, Fla. 

85,000 

19.5 

124 

154,135 

1.81 

Duluth, Minn. 

85,000 

78 

86 

103,000 

1.21 

Knoxville, Tenn. 

82,000 

5 

50 

51,000 

.62 

Erie, Pa. 

80,000 

7.8 

80 

105,000 

1.31 

Whether the force is 

too large could only be determined by 

a com- 


prehensive study of the crime conditions of the city, which cannot be 


made at this time because of the failure of the department to maintain 
records which accurately describe the police needs of the city. This 
study, however, could be made, and by the department officers them¬ 
selves, within six months after the installation of a systematic method 
of reporting and recording. A study of the patrol posts, the hours of 
work, and the method of distribution indicated that, by a proper re¬ 
apportionment of the patrol posts upon the basis of actual community 
needs, rather than upon a geographical basis, by the adoption of a new 
platoon system and a proper distribution of the force, through the use 
of additional motorcycle and bicycle policemen, greater efficiency could be 
had with the present force without appointment of additional patrolmen. 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


189 


The mere appointment of additional untrained men would be far from 
a guarantee of increased police protection. It would seem unwise to 
appoint additional patrolmen at this time, since the city is not prepared 
to train the men. and for the further reason that there is no indication 
of the need for additional patrolmen. On the contrary, from such records 
as were available and by comparisons with other cities, it would appear 
that the number of policemen was already too large. 

Need for Appointment of Policewoman 

While no moral survey of the city was made, nevertheless the vice 
conditions were carefully observed and many disorderly and suspected 
places noted. The need was apparent for the appointment of a police¬ 
woman as an aid to the chief in affording greater protection to the girls 
and the minors of the city. The work performed by the policewomen in 
the cities of Denver, Chicago and Rochester was observed during recent 
studies of those cities, and there can no longer be any doubt as to the 
need for policewomen and their usefulness in police work. It is, there¬ 
fore, recommended that provision be made for the appointment of at least 
one policewoman. 

Civilian Clerk Should Be Employed 

The patrolman performing clerical service in the office of the 
chief should be remanded to patrol duty and his place filled by a civilian 
clerk. 

Detailed Policemen Should Not Be Assigned to Precincts 

Under the present system patrolmen detailed to duties other than 
patrol are assigned to precincts and show upon the roster as a part of the 
precinct force. This practice should be abandoned, as it tends to 
create a false impression as to the actual strength of each command. 
When a patrolman or officer is detailed he should be carried upon a 
separate roster so as to show at all times the actual number of patrol¬ 
men and officers performing duties other than patrol. 

Need for Additional Motorcycle Men 

The efficiency of the force would be greatly increased if additional 
motorcycle men were appointed. There are at present but three 
motorcycle policemen whose principal function is the enforcement of 
the rules of the road and traffic ordinances. 

Because no reserve is maintained and because of the inability of 
policemen in suburban sections to respond speedily to emergency 
calls, it is imperative that additional motorcycle patrolmen be appointed 
so as to have motorcycle policemen available at all hours to answer 
emergency calls. 

Many of the posts now patrolled by foot patrolmen, especially in 
the outlying sections, could be more economically and more efficiently 
patrolled by bicycle patrolmen. 

Need for Reapportionment of Patrol Posts. 

The patrol posts, instead of being arranged on the basis of city 
blocks, are measured by the acreage, the average area of the day post 
being 2. r )0 acres and of the night post, 127 acres. Because of the 


190 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


absence of suitable crime records, it was not possible to make any 
comprehensive study of the posts in the time allowed, but a number 
of the posts located in the center of the city and some in the suburbs 
were observed. Those studied indicated the need for reapportion¬ 
ment, since some were found to be unnecessarily short and others 
exceedingly long. Long posts which are being covered by foot patrol¬ 
men should either be abandoned as patrol posts or covered by patrol 
booths or by bicycle patrolmen. The patrol posts are established by 
the chief. Their location and length are determined first, geograph¬ 
ically; second, by the general character of the entire neighborhood; 
and third, with reference to the number of policemen available. 

The department is without proper information to form the basis 
of an efficient apportionment of posts, and consequently an efficient 
distribution of the force. To divide the city into patrol posts on an 
equitable basis it is necessary that the person establishing the posts 
shall have before him accurate information concerning the conditions 
as to crime, character of buildings, population, kind of business 
transacted, and nationality of the population of every block in the city. 
LJpon no other basis can posts be equitably established. This in¬ 
formation must be brought up to date from time to time, since the 
uninhabited block of today is the residential, tenement or business 
block of tomorrow. Conditions as to population, buildings, character 
of occupants, etc., are changing continually, and with these changes 
come new and different police problems which make it necessary to 
change the methods employed in giving protection. Therefore, it is 
recommended that the chief of police cause a census of every block 
in the city to be taken, not only as to number of people, but also as to 
every condition which in any way affects the police problem. The 
information thus secured should be recorded upon cards having printed 
headings similar to those contained in the following illustrations: 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


191 


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192 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


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POLICE DEPARTMENT 


193 


Circular Posts Should Be Abandoned 

The posts as arranged at present are of the square or circular 
type long since condemned by leading authorities. They are measured 
upon the acreage basis rather than upon the city blocks. The police¬ 
men in patrolling cover square blocks. This type of post is not only 
difficult to patrol efficiently, but it is difficult in the extreme for the 
supervising officers, such as sergeants or captains, to check the patrol¬ 
men so as to keep them on their posts. Citizens needing the services 
of a policeman find it especially hard to locate them. 

Sergeants Signal for Policemen 

Under the present system, because it is so difficult to locate a police¬ 
man, even though he be diligently patrolling his post, the sergeants 
when they visit the post go to a central point and there blow a whistle, 
summoning the patrolman either from some section of the post where 
he is patrolling, or, it may be, from some comfortable “cozy corner”, 
to use the vernacular of the police, where he is resting. This practice 
should be discontinued at once, and sergeants required to patrol posts 
until they locate the patrolman without the aid of any signal. The 
effect of their supervision is destroyed by this present method of 
checking patrol. 

Reapportionment of Patrol Posts Recommended 

After the chief has caused proper information concerning post 
conditions to be collected, he should then make a reapportionment of 
the posts, which should be laid out on a straight-away patrol; that is, 
a definite number of blocks on an avenue or main street with a half 
block of each intersecting side street to compose a post. By this 
method, if the policeman is on his post, the citizen can readily find him, 
the sergeant can easily overtake him, and the policeman can have a 
continuous view of the greater part of the post for which he is responsi¬ 
ble. In the built-up sections and in the congested value districts this 
method of patrol should be adopted at once. Straight-away posts, if 
properly arranged, do not require any more policemen than do circular 
posts. 

Patrol Maps Should Be Provided 

Each precinct should be provided with a map showing the location 
of the patrol posts with the relieving points indicated thereon. A set 
of these maps should be kept at the office of the chief and at the 
office of the administrative head. 

No Method of Reaching Patrolmen on Posts 

The police department, lacking a reserve force, having extraordi¬ 
narily large posts in some localities, and no motorcycle policemen at 
the station, is badly handicapped and unprepared to meet a real emerg¬ 
ency because it possesses no means of reaching the patrolmen on their 
posts, except as they may call in on the hour over the patrol box. 

While it is not recommended or even suggested that any compli¬ 
cated or expensively maintained signal system be installed, it is urged 
that provision be made for reaching the patrolman on post through 
the use of signal lights. The city of Rochester has obtained good 


13 


194 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


results with comparatively inexpensive equipment. A number of red 
lights suspended from arms attached to the street light poles and con¬ 
nected with the nearest fire-house by ordinary lighting wires are 
located throughout the city. If a precinct commander desires to reach 
the patrolman at a given point, he communicates by telephone with the 
fire-house nearest a signal light and the fireman on house duty turns 
on the light. The policeman, seeing the light, communicates at once 
with his precinct by using the nearest telephone. In Dayton and in 
Reading inexpensive flashlight systems are maintained. 

A flashlight system is efifective as a means of checking patrol, since 
it is possible for a commanding officer, from time to time during the 
night hours, to determine the number of patrolmen on post and their 
promptness in responding to calls by lighting these lamps and recording 
the time elapsing before the responses. 


Need for a New Platoon System 

The force is divided into two reliefs or platoons and each platoon 
is divided into two sections. The sections are on duty as follows: 


First day 


6 P. M. to 12 Midnight 

12 Midnight to G A. M. 
r 

6 A. M. to 12 Noon 
12 Noon to 6 P. M. 


Second day >- 


G A. M. to 12 Noon 
12 Midnight to G A. M. 
6 P. M. to 12 Midnight 
12 Noon to 6 P. M. 


“a” relief 


“b” relief 


of “a” 

relief 

y 2 of “b” 

relief 

“b” relief 


“a” relief 


P 2 of “b” relief 


the other y 2 of “b” relief 


By this system each patrolman works eighteen hours in each forty-eight 
and average nine hours a day service. 

I his system as organized provides for no reserve force and the 
only policemen available for use in emergency are the patrol drivers 
and conductors and the men on house duty in the two suburban 
precincts. 

The adoption of a platoon system which will provide for an 
adequate reserve force at all times and an equal number of hours of 
patrol without the varying number of hours off duty is recommended. 

In connection with the recommendation for the adoption of a 
platoon system the following systems which have been used from time 
to time in various cities are suggested: 

a—The two-platoon system with four sections 
b—The three-platoon system with six or nine sections 
cc—The five-platoon system 


A Reserve Force Important 

That the police chief have a reserve force available at all times, 
but more especially during the night time, is important. Instead of 
distributing the reserve force in small groups among the various 




POLICE DEPARTMENT 


195 


station-houses, however, it is recommended that the first precinct be 
established as a central reserve station. This is urged because the 
motor-driven patrol is attached to this precinct. This will provide the 
reserve and a speedy method of delivering the reserve in case of 
emergency. Even pending the adoption of a new platoon system it is 
recommended that the chief cause a reserve force to be established 
by requiring not less than six or eight patrolmen to sleep at the 
central station each night. Each member of the force should be re¬ 
quired to take his turn in serving on this reserve. 

Precinct Discipline Not Up to Standard 

The general appearance of the policemen on duty was untidy. 
Many were observed with their coats open, buttons and shields tarn¬ 
ished and their trousers much in need of pressing. Patrolmen on 
their posts were observed only too frequently in conversation with 
other patrolmen and with citizens. In a few instances patrolmen 
were observed smoking while on patrol and the manner in which the 
patrolmen approached their superior was so undignified as to indicate 
a lack of discipline. 

It is of course unnecessary to argue in this report as to the need 
for maintaining proper discipline among policemen. Suffice it to say 
that to secure efficient service the policemen must have the respect 
of the citizens, and an untidy, slovenly, disrespectful undisciplined 
can scarcely earn the respect of the public. 

It is, therefore, recommended that the chief, through his subordi¬ 
nate officers, exert every influence over his men toward enforcing the 
discipline becoming a semi-military body. 

Method of Promulgating Rules and Regulations 

The rules are printed and issued in book form. At such time as 
the rules and regulations are reprinted it is recommended that they be 
issued in the form of loose leaves and placed in a standard loose-leaf 
binder. All amendments to the rules and regulations issued after the 
books are furnished the policemen may be printed upon the same size 
sheets as those used in the book, issued to each member of the force, 
and placed in the loose-leaf binder in order. 

The practice of reading orders, information and general alarms to 
the force and expecting them to be remembered has long since been 
found to be unwise and inefficient. 

Printing Bureau Should Be Established 

The establishment of a small printing bureau to be operated in 
connection with the various city departments is recommended. The 
operation and maintenance of such a bureau would not be expensive, 
and it could do the major part of the printing for the departments of 
police, fire and health, and result not only in economy but likewise in 
greater convenience. By this means all new ordinances affecting the 
police department, circulars, instructions to the force, general alarms 
for missing and wanted persons, and other information could be printed 
at a nominal cost and distributed to all members of the force. 


196 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Procedure Relative to Special Policemen Defective 

Special policemen are appointed by the board of control subject to 
the approval of the chief of police. These special policemen serving 
for private employers, such as railroad companies, etc., are, however, 
not under the supervision of the chief, nor are they required to report 
directly to the chief. They are not required to furnish a bond to the 
city, or to wear standard uniforms. 

It is recommended that all special policemen or their employers 
be required to furnish a bond to the city in an amount not less than 
$2,000, and that the special policemen be required to wear a uniform 
and a shield of the design furnished by the police department. The 
use of any other shield or uniform by these special policemen should be 
deemed cause for revocation of their commissions. Special policemen 
performing duties which would require their working in civilian dress 
should be required to receive permission from the chief of police and 
the records should show the reasons therefor. 

Procedure for Policemen Co-operating with Other Departments 
Should Be Revised 

The rules require that policemen shall report all conditions observed 
by them on their posts. Although it was said by some of the adminis¬ 
trative heads of other city departments that the cooperation between 
the police department and their departments was fairly good, the proce¬ 
dure for the reporting of these conditions is not in accordance with the 
most approved methods. 

The patrolmen are furnished with cards upon which they are 
required to make all reports. These forms are general and do not detail 
the information which should be secured. They are all forwarded in 
bulk each morning to headquarters where they are sorted out and 
copies made for the departments interested. 

In addition to the cards policemen are supposed to carry memoran¬ 
dum books. A number of the memorandum books carried by the 
policemen were observed and a great variety was found in use. Many 
policemen did not carry any books, while others carried books of a 
type which would scarcely serve as a policeman’s memorandum book. 
Nothing in the way of a stimulus is provided the policemen to encourage 
their observing and reporting faithfully and intelligently, nor are the 
report cards checked by the sergeant to determine whether the police¬ 
men are diligently reporting the conditions observed. 

While it has been recognized generally that the policeman should 
be a reporter of conditions, and that, because of his constant walking 
back and forth over a given territory day in and day out with no 
other duties than to observe, no one is better qualified to report upon 
street conditions, yet in but few cities is this work performed intelli¬ 
gently. The ambition of every police force should be to create friendly 
relations between citizens and policeman and a proper understanding 
by the public of the functions of the police, and thus raise the dignity of 
the force in the estimation of the public. To do this, it is necessary that 
the policeman be trained to observe and report upon conditions, that he 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


197 


be encouraged by reward through efficiency rating for intelligent report¬ 
ing, that he be made to understand that efficiency in police work does 
not necessarily mean the making of many arrests and that he be thrown 
into contact with the public on his post in such a manner as to establish 
a feeling of respect and friendliness rather than hostility. 

Reports of Policemen Should Be Carefully Reviewed 

To encourage policemen to report conditions promptly and intel¬ 
ligently, and to bring about a proper system of reporting, would be of 
little value to the city or to the policemen unless the reports were 
properly reviewed and acted upon. The principal need for the success¬ 
ful administration of municipal government is the scientific collection of 
information as to conditions in all branches of government, the review 
of this information, and the cooperation of all city departments to bring 
about action which will remedy bad conditions reported upon. The 
policeman who reports a broken sidewalk three or four times and 
finds ultimately that no action is taken to remedy the conditon will soon 
lose his enthusiasm and neglect to report in the future. The policeman 
who reports the violation of a corporation ordinance, only to find that 
the branch of the city government whose function it is to prosecute 
neglects to act, will soon lose his faith in that branch of the government. 
Thus, to make the policemen of Norfolk alert, efficient and useful “eyes 
and ears of the city government,” it is necessary that the spirit of 
cooperation be aroused in other city departments. 

It is also necessary that the policemen be furnished proper means 
of reporting through intelligently drawn forms, and that they be re¬ 
warded for their activity in reporting. Therefore, it is recommended 
that policemen be furnished standard loose-leaf memorandum books 
in which they should be required to carry printed forms upon which to 
report conditions observed. 

Those reports should include, among others, forms for the follow- 

ing: 

Report of highway accident 

Report of unusual occurrence 

Report of gas and electric light outages 

Report of street pavement and sidewalk conditions 

Report of arrest 

Report of violation of corporation ordinance 

These report forms should be arranged so as to permit of the patrol¬ 
men using check marks rather than having to write lengthy reports. 
When these reports are delivered to the desk officer, they should be 
copied upon forwarding forms, and the original retained at the station- 
house and filed in the envelopes of the policemen making them. At the 
end of the month, these reports should be examined by the captain and 
used as a guide in giving efficiency ratings. 

In order that patrolmen and sergeants may be kept informed as to 
the conditions reported on their posts, a bulletin board, encased in glass, 
on which should be posted a list of matters reported as affecting the 
several posts, should be maintained in each station-house. This bulle- 


198 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


tin should be under lock and key and no information posted upon it 
except with the proper authorization. 

Before each outgoing roll call, the patrolmen and sergeants should 
be required to enter in their memorandum books, from the notices 
posted upon this bulletin, all matters affecting their posts. 

Policemen Should Be Used to Deliver Communications 
Between City and Taxpayer 

To establish the proper feeling between the citizen and the police¬ 
man they should be brought into closer contact and the visit of a 
policeman to a household on his post should not necessarily indicate 
trouble to the householder. The desired contact could be brought 
about and result not only in economy, but also in a better understand¬ 
ing of the functions of the police, if the various city departments would 
use the service of the police in distributing literature, pamphlets and 
communications to taxpayers. For example, if the fire chief desired to 
notify property owners of the location of fire boxes and warn them 
against practices tending to increase the fire risk, he could issue such 
notice in the form of a pamphlet which could be delivered to the police 
department and distributed throughout the city by the patrolmen on 
their respective posts. If the sealer of weights and measures desired to 
send a message to the housewives, warning them of some newly dis¬ 
covered dishonest practice, he could do likewise. The police depart¬ 
ment itself, from time to time, could circularize the householders ad¬ 
vising them against the use of practice encouraging thefts and burglars. 
Even jury notices could be efficiently and economically served by the 
police department. 

Traffic 

Trafficmen Untrained for Their Work 

Six foot patrolmen and two mounted patrolmen are assigned to 
traffic duty. They are not organized as a traffic squad nor are they 
detailed continuously to this work. There are five permanent traffic 
positions which are covered from 8 A. M. to 6 P. M. The patrolmen on 
these posts are relieved at the end of four hours by patrolmen from 
the regular patrol posts. They are all under the supervision of a 
patrol sergeant who supervises them in connection with his regular 
work. No provision is made for furnishing proper training in the 
regulation of traffic for the policemen assigned to this work. The onlv 
instructions that are given are by the chief and occasionally the patrol 
sergeants. 

The policemen on traffic duty were observed. They displayed a 
lack of understanding of the duties of a traffic officer and showed the 
need for training. The direction of traffic upon the highways is a police 
service which requires careful instruction in order to produce efficiency. 
It is therefore recommended that provision be made at once for the 
training of the traffic officers. In order to obtain knowledge of the 
most approved methods of regulating traffic and instructing the officers, 
it is recommended that a sergeant be permitted to visit New York or 
Philadelphia. Pie should attend the training school for police service, 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


199 


and there observe the methods of instructing policemen for traffic duty. 
'The policemen detailed to traffic duty should have permanent assign¬ 
ments. 

It is recommended that the department experiment with the use of 
traffic semaphores, such as are now being used in the cities of New 
York and Philadelphia, and that the patrolmen detailed to traffic duty 
be required to wear leggings and the traffic insignia. The use of 
leggings is recommended for the protection of the uniform and upon the 
theory that they furnish proper support. Additional traffic posts 
should be created when policemen are available. 

Detective Bureau 

The detective bureau, as at present organized, is composed of eight 
patrolmen detailed to detective duty who operate under the supervision 
of a sergeant detailed to command. The method of selecting the detec¬ 
tives and the organization of the bureau are in accordance with good 
practice. 

Head of Detective Bureau Should Have Rank of Captain 

There is no position among the subordinate officers of the police 
department of greater importance than that of head of the detective 
bureau. It is this official who is and should be held directly responsible 
for the suppression of the more serious crimes and the apprehension of 
more important criminals. It may be said that upon the efficiency of 
the detective branch depends to a large degree the success of the police 
department in coping with crime. Therefore, the head of this bureau, 
regardless of the grade from which he may be selected, should be given 
the rank and salary of captain. 

Detectives Receive No Training 

No provision is made for training the detectives. With the organi¬ 
zation of the training school for police service, as already suggested, 
provision should be made for the training of members of the force for 
detective service. 

Pending the establishment of the school, the commonwealth 
attorney should be requested to prepare, or cause to be prepared, in¬ 
structions as to the procedure to be followed by the police in homicide 
cases. These should include the reporting of data, the preservation of 
evidence, the examination of witnesses so as to make their statements 
admissible in court, and all other legal matters with which the patrol¬ 
men should be familiar. They should be printed, and a copy furnished 
each member of the force. 

In addition to the instructions of the commonwealth attorney there 
should be printed departmental rules govering the methods to be fol¬ 
lowed by uniformed members of the force upon discovery of the com¬ 
mission of a murder. The rules should require that the uniformed 
policemen should exercise great care in preventing any person from dis¬ 
turbing anything in the room or place where a body is found or a 
crime committed until the arrival of the detective assigned to the case 
and the coroner, so as to prevent the removal or destruction of evidence. 


200 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Lack of Training- Indicated By Results 

Because a comprehensive study and tabulation of the results ob¬ 
tained by the detectives in the investigation of their cases could not 
be made, owing to the lack of complete records, it was not possible to 
determine the efficiency of the indivdual members, but on examination 
of such records as were available showed clearly the lack of training on 
the part of the detectives. It showed further that the detectives exer¬ 
cise greater zeal and energy in their search for stolen property than they 
do in their efforts to secure the arrest of persons responsible for the 
theft, and as a natural consequence they are more successful in recover¬ 
ing property than in arresting criminals. Such records as were avail¬ 
able covering a six months’ period, from April 1, 1915 to September 30, 
1915, showed that of 860 cases referred to the detectives for investiga¬ 
tion, but 51, or 5.8 per cent, resulted in arrests, while 180 cases, or 
21 per cent, resulted in recovery of the property but no arrests. 

These results indicate not only deficient training but also the 
lack of proper supervision. 

Chief Not Properly Advised of Crime Conditions 
and Activities of Detectives 

The procedure followed by the sergeant of detectives does not 
provide for keeping the chief and the administrative head currently 
advised of the crime complaints and the results of subsequent investi¬ 
gation by the detectives. As a consequence, neither the chief nor the 
administrative head has any means by which to judge of the efficiency 
of the detectives. The only attempt made to advise the chief of the 
results of the work obtained is through a weekly report which shows 
the number of cases assigned to each detective and the number in 
which the detective obtained “results.” By “results” is meant either 
an arrest, a recovery, or both, but nothing in this report indicates which 
of these three the detectives accomplished. Moreover, the report does 
not show the character of the complaints assigned to the various detec¬ 
tives to investigate, such as burglaries, homicides, robberies, etc., but 
merely states the total number of cases. Thus, the report fails utterly 
to be of assistance to the chief in determining either the crime condi¬ 
tions or the efficiency of the individual detectives. 

Hours of Detectives Should Be Changed 

The detectives report each morning at 8 A. M. and again each 
evening at 5. One detective who is unofficially termed the “night call 
man” reports for duty at 8 P. M. and serves until 7 A. M. Thus, from 
8 P. M. until 7 A. M. there is but one detective officially on duty. On 
Saturday night the entire stafif remains on duty until midnight. This 
arrangement of hours of work is most defective in that it does not afford 
adequate detective protection during the night hours. Moreover, hav¬ 
ing all of the detectives report at 5 P. M. results in the detective force 
being at police headquarters at a time when congestion on the street 
cars and along the main thoroughfares is greatest. 

While it is true that the detectives, although relieved officially after 
their evening conference, continue to investigate cases which have been 
assigned to them, yet the fact remains that officially there is but one 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


201 


detective on duty. This procedure should be changed and the hours of 
the detectives so arranged as to provide for adequate detective service 
at all hours—not less than three detectives on duty between 8 P. M. and 
12 midnight and not less than two detectives from midnight until early 
morning. The night detectives should not remain at police head¬ 
quarters subject to call, but should be on patrol throughout the city 
and be required to get in touch with the central office by telephone. 

Detective Force Relieved of Duty on Sunday 

There are but two detectives on duty on Sunday (the night call 
man works every night and is only relieved during the period of his 
annual vacation). Provision should be made to have ample detective 
service on Sunday as well as any other day. The detectives should not 
all be relieved on Sunday, but a schedule of “days off” should be 
arranged so that the force would be equal on all seven days. The plan 
of having one man assigned continuously to night work is not just to the 
man or conducive to the efficiency of members of the detective bureau. 

Detectives Used for the Investigation of Trivial Matters 

The number of detectives is wholly adequate, and, if they were 
properly supervised, they should be capable of efficient work in connec¬ 
tion with serious crimes. But to secure efficient service from the 
detectives they must be used for the investigation of serious matters 
and not for every trivial complaint which may be made to the department. 
If the detectives are to be used in the investigation of minor complaints 
which the police department receives, eight would be wholly insufficient. 

An examination of the card records shows that but little judgment 
is used in determining the kind of cases which should be handled by 
the detectives. Cases which should be investigated by the uniform force 
or which should be referred to the police court are assigned to the 
detectives; consequently, time which should be devoted to ferreting out 
crimes and criminals is lost in the search for stolen property of com¬ 
paratively little value, etc. etc. 

It is therefore recommended that the detectives be used for the 
investigation of serious crimes and that the chief adopt a procedure to 
be followed by the commanding officers of precincts in the matter 
of referring cases to the detective bureau. The procedure should 
definitely set forth a list of typical minor cases which should be investi¬ 
gated by the uniformed force and not referred to the detective bureau. 
Moreover, the procedure should require that all cases reported to the 
police sations should be immediately referred to the dective bureau by 
telephone and later confirmed in writing. The sergeant of detectives, 
or whoever may be in command of the bureau at the time of receipt of 
telephone messages, should have authority to determine whether or not 
the detective bureau should handle the case. The complaint record in 
the police station should show the instructions received concerning the 
case from the detective bureau. 

Detectives Should Not Be Used in the Investigation 
of the Laws Against Gambling and Prostitution 

Although the functions of detectives involve the investigation of 


202 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


serious crimes, to which they should be permitted to give their entire 
time, they are used in the enforcement of the laws against gambling and 
prostitution. The detective assigned to night duty, in addition to 
answering calls requiring detective services, is also required to inspect 
the disorderly houses in the segregated district and to maintain a 
register of the inmates of these places. He is required to make a 
general inspection of all disorderly houses each Saturday night. This 
practice has long since been condemned as conducive to inefficiency and 
corrupt practices. 

It is therefore recommended that the detective bureau be relieved of 
all responsibility for the enforcement of these laws. The methods to 
be employed in the enforcement of these laws will be found described in 
the section of this report entitled “Vice.” 

Procedure for Checking the Pawnshop Lists 
Should Be Improved 

In accordance with the ordinances, each pawnbroker*^ required 
to file a daily report of the pledges for the preceding twenty-four hours. 
This report is checked currently with the list of stolen property. The 
system is defective, however, in that no provision is made for a con- 
tinous check, since while a card record is made of stolen bicycles, 
swatches and other jewelry reported lost or stolen, no card record is 
maintained of such articles pledged with the pawnbrokers. Thus, it is 
not possible to provide an automatic check one against the other. 

It is therefore recommended that the procedure commonly known 
as the Boston system be adopted. 

Pawnbrokers Should Have Buzzer Connection With Headquarters 

Each pawnbroker should be equipped with a buzzer connected with 
the detective bureau so that when any person appears to redeem stolen 
property, the pawnbroker could immediately notify the police depart¬ 
ment without being observed. 

Method of Handling Complaints 

The procedure for the handling and recording of complaints is not 
definitely prescribed and consequently is not alway the same in all 
cases. This is particularly true of complaints orgininating at police 
stations. The absence of definite procedure tends to decrease the effi¬ 
ciency of the bureau. As an illustration of the defective procedure may 
be cited the case of a murder which was not officially reported to the 
detective bureau until twenty-four hours after it was committed and 
discovered. Although this murder was fully reported in the news¬ 
papers and two detectives who read of it in the paper unofficially- 
worked on the case without assignment for several hours, there was no 
record of it in the detective bureau. 

The record system as at present maintained, while incomplete and 
defective, nevertheless represents a step in the right direction. It fails 
because there is no definite procedure followed in recording complaints 
and their disposition. 

It is therefore recommended that a complete system of records and 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


203 


reports be installated at once and that an approved procedure be adopted. 
The records should be kept available for ready reference and also furn¬ 
ish a means of preserving a complete record of every complaint received 
and the action taken upon it. Such a system as is outlined in this report 
will supply the administrative and executive heads with a basis for 
determining the efficiency of the staff and for ascertaining the crime 
conditions of the city as well. To do this, the system of records and 
reports must reveal the failures of the police as well as their successes. 
This the present system entirely fails to do, because, while the detectives 
report upon the case in which they have success by reason of a 
recovery or arrest, they make no report in cases where no results are 
obtained. 

For the administrative head of the police to determine the efficiency 
of the police force, and particularly of the detective bureau, it is 
essential that he have records before him which will keep him informed 
as to the number of complaints received and the action taken upon them, 
not only for the current day, month and year, but for other days, months 
and years as well. The records of the detective bureau should contain 
the following: 

1—Detectives’ complaint book, 

in which should be kept the records of every complaint made 
to the bureau requiring detective attention. Each page of 
this record should be numbered and provided with printed 
headings calling for the following information: 

The number of the complaint 
The date and time complaint was received 
The name and address of the person making the 
complaint 

A statement of facts as to the matter complained 
of 

The number of the beat and the name of the 
patrolman on duty at the time of the occurrence 
The name of the officer receiving the complaint 
The name of the detective or detectives assigned 
to the case and the time they began work upon 
it 

Adequate space should be provided for the report of the investi¬ 
gation. If the complaint is in letter form it should be copied 
into the record and the original letter forwarded to the record 
and filling division. 

No other matters should be recorded in this book, and 
care should be taken to see that each complaint is propel 1} 
numbered. Beside the number should be a code jetter indicat¬ 
ing the character of the complaint; such as “R” for robbery, 
“P” for pickpocket, “M” for murder. The book should be 
indexed with the name of the complainant, and under his name 
the crime complained of and the place where the crime was 
committed. Onlv cases requiring detective attention should 
be entered in this book, thereby differentiating between the 


204 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


detectives’ complaint book just described and the citizens’ com¬ 
plaint book described in another section of this report. 

2— Detectives’ assignment book, 

indexed under the name of the detective. This book should 
give the number of the case, a brief statement to indicate the 
character of the investigation, the time and date assigned, 
and the time when assignment is completed, with a brief state¬ 
ment of the results. It should be possible for the chief or the 
deputy chief to turn to this record at any time and find record¬ 
ed the number of cases pending, the number of cases in the 
hands of the various detectives, and the number of cases closed. 
No such information as this is now available. Not even the 
chief could guess at the number of cases assigned to the various 
detectives, and nobody connected with the department could 
tell, even from the records, the number of cases pending 

3— Record of arrest, 

corresponding to the record of arrest recommended for use in 
connection with the station-house. Each arrest made by 
detectives should be entered in this book, the headings and 
entries in which should correspond exactly to those suggested 
for the record of arrest book for the uniformed force. This 
record should be wholly independent of the record of arrest 
maintained by the sergeant at the desk 

4— Property stolen and recovered book, 

in which a record should be made under proper headings show¬ 
ing all property reported stolen, the value of same, and the. 
number of the case in the detective bureau. Headings should 
be provided calling for information as to the recovery of the 
property, showing clearly the manner in which it was recov¬ 
ered, whether found in pawnshops, in custody of prisoners, 
etc. This record should contain no entries concerning 
property other than stolen or recovered stolen property. The 
book should be recapitulated at the end of each month, thus 
showing in tabular form the amount of property reported 
stolen during the month, the amount recovered by the detec¬ 
tive bureau, and the amount recovered through any other 
agency. 

5— A desk blotter 

identical with the desk blotter maintained by the sergeant in 
the station-house, which is fully described in another part of 
this report, should be kept in the office of the detective bureau 
by the detective sergeant. In it should be recorded chron¬ 
ologically all pertinent matters as they occur during the day. 
This blotter should be kept posted during the night by the 
detective on night duty. 

6— A card record of complaints, 

Upon receipt of a complaint requiring detective attention a 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


205 


detective should be assigned at once. Immediately after re¬ 
cording the information furnished by the complainant a 
preliminary investigation should be made. As soon as the 
detective returns to headquarters he should be required to 
fill out a complaint card. These cards should be printed forms 
11 x 8y 2 inches in size, with headings callings for the following- 
information : 

Complaint number 
Name of complainant 
Classification of crime 
Place of occurrence 
Time and date of occurrence 
Time and date reported 
Details of complaint 

Descriptions of persons wanted in connection 
with crime, with their names, addresses 
aliases, ages, heights, weights, color of eyes, 
color of hair 

Arrest and disposition, providing space for an 
accurate description of the person arrested for 
the crime, and recording the final disposition 
of the case 

Under the heading “Final Dispositon,” should be 
reported when convicted or acquitted, and, if 
convicted, the sentence imposed 
On the reverse side of this card there should 
be captions calling for a description of the 
property reported stolen 

Each complaint should be given the same number as the 
number it receives in the detectives’ complaint book, and all 
subsequent reference to the case should be by the complaint 
number. 

These cards should be filed in the detective division, 
indexed by a cross-reference card system to the name of the 
complainant and the name of the person complained of. In 
filing they should be classified as to crime complained of, and 
subclassified alphabetically. 

If an arrest is made is a case within twenty-four hours, a 
report of the arrest should be entered on this card. Reports 
of subsequent investigation should be made out upon a 
second card to be know as a “progress” or “supplemental” 
card, which should be of a color different from that of the 
original complaint card but of the same size. The headings 
on this card should call for: 

The complaint number 

Record of final action under headings of “Dis¬ 
posed Of”, “Unfounded,” and “No Results” 

Under the heading “Important Developments” 
should be left sufficient blank space to report 


206 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


the details of important developments and the 
progress of investigation 
The bottom of the card should provide headings 
calling for information concerning arrest and 
disposition, if any 

On the reverse side should be entered a state¬ 
ment day by day of the action taken by the 
detectives investigating the case, so that upon 
these two cards, or as many progress cards as 
may be necessary, will be contained a complete 
history of the complaint and of the action taken 
upon it 

Most of these cards should be signed by the detective assigned 
to the case and by the detective sergeant reviewing them 

7— Case closed cards. 

No case should be closed where an investigation is stopped 
without an order from the detective sergeant. The order 
should be in writing and upon a card which will provide head¬ 
ings calling for definite reasons for closing the case. The 
procedure should be for the detective working on the case to 
write upon the card his recommendations for the closing of 
the case and his reasons for presenting it to the deputy chief 
for his approval. When signed by the deputy chief the card 
should be filed with the original complaint and supplemental 
cards. 

8— Detectives’ daily reports. 

Each detective should be required to make a daily report 
stating the time he reported for duty, the cases he worked on 
as indicated by numbers, and a brief description of his activi¬ 
ties in each case, with the names of persons interviewed and 
such other information as will enable the detective in charqe 
of the division to judge as to the efficiency of the detective. 
The time spent in court should be shown on this sheet with 
a record of the title of the case. These time sheets should be 
forwarded daily for review to the office of the chief and then 
sent to the record and filing division and filed under the name 
of the detective. 

9— Daily consolidated reports. 

Each morning the sergeant of detectives should furnish the 
chief with a consolidated report showing the activities of the 
division for the preceding twenty-four hours. This report 
should show under proper printed headings: 

Number of complaints received during the 
twenty-four hours, classified as to crime com¬ 
plained of 

Total number of complaints under each of the 
crimes complained of to date during the current 
* month 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


207 


Total number of complaints under the same head¬ 
ings received up to the same period of the 
preceding year 

Number of arrests classified as to crime and the 
number of convictions classified as to crime 
Number of detectives present 
Number of detectives absent and the reasons 
therefore 

Total number of hours spent by members of the 
detective bureau in the investigation of specific 
cases 

Total number of hours in court 
Total number of hours devoted to “free-lancing or 
general work 

Number of arrests made by each detective, class¬ 
ified as to crime 

Total amount of property reported stolen 
Total amount of property recovered 

This consolidated report should show also, under like headings 
all the information called for on the daily consolidated return 
for the uniformed force. It should be made out in duplicate, 
and the original forwarded to the administrative head. 

10— Weekly consolidated reports. 

Each Monday morning the chief should receive from the serg¬ 
eant a weekly consolidated report which should contain a 
recapitulation of all of the data contained on the daily con¬ 
solidated reports. This report should be made out in duplicate, 
the original being forwarded to the administrative head and 
filed in his office. 

11— A telephone record. 

There should be maintained at the central office a telephone 
record, in which should be kept entries showing all incoming 
and outgoing messages. The rules governing the suggested 
telephone record for the use of the uniformed force should also 
apply- to the detective bureau. 

All other records suggested for the use of the uniformed force 
should be kept by the detective bureau as well. 

The records suggested above and their maintenance should involve 
no more expense, except for the initial cost of printing the cards and 
furnishing the books, than is required to maintain the present inadequ¬ 
ate records. Since the complaint cards and report cards will be made 
out by the detectives themselves and will take the place of their present 
individual reports, no extra clerical help will be needed for this work. 

If the books are properly kept and recapitulated, statistics thus 
compiled will* be available from week to week. With the installation 
of this system the detective bureau will be equipped with a proper 
reporting system through which the chief and the administrative head 
will be currently advised of the activities of the detectives, and enabled 


208 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


to direct intelligently the operations of the department of police without 
any additional expenditure of money. 

Division of Criminal Identification 

In connection with the detective bureau, the department maintains 
a division of criminal identification. This division is under the super¬ 
vision of the Bertillon operator who also serves as clerk to the detective 
bureau. He is a patrolman detailed to this work. 

Althougii the Bertillon measurements and photographs of crim¬ 
inals are recorded in this division, no fingerprints are taken, a rogues 
gallery, which contains 3260 photographs, is maintained. Pictures in 
the gallery are placed there in the numerical order of their receipt, no 
attempt being made to classify them either as to kinds of criminals or 
facial characteristics. 

It is therefore recommended that the Bertillon operator be permitted 
to visit the New York police department and there study the methods 
of taking, photographing and recording fingerprints. 

While the Bertillon measurement system is an acknowledged aid in 
the matter of criminal identification, it nevertheless is not a complete 
means of identifying criminals because of the frequent changes in 
facial developments. The fingerprint, however, has been declared by 
scientist to be the most efficient means of recording the record of a 
criminal. Moreover, regardless of its efficiency as a means of identify¬ 
ing second offenders and in tracing a criminal record, it has already 
proved a most valuable aid in the indentification of persons who have 
committed a crime and in their subsequent apprehension through the 
photographing of fingerprints found at the scene of a crime, by compar¬ 
ing them with those on record in the police departments of the various 
cities and in the national bureau of criminal identification in Washing¬ 
ton. 

It is recommended that the photographs in the gallery be classified 
first as to types of criminals, such as burglars, pickpockets, “con” men. 
murderers, general thieves, etc. etc. and subclassified as.to facial 
characteristics, such as a peculiarly shaped nose, forehead, chin, etc. 

Vice 

Although the policy of the police department is to maintain a 
'so-called segregated and regulated district in which are located eighty 
commercialized houses of prostitution, the department does not suc¬ 
ceed in confining commercialized prostitution within the limits of 
the segregated district. It has failed to segregate the vice of the city. 
In short it may be said that the city of Norfolk has in operation 
a policy of segregation and regulation which neither segregates nor 
regulates. 

The inmates of the houses of prostitution, despite the statutory 
prohibition against commercialized prostitution, are required to regis¬ 
ter with the police department. 

The very department which is delegated by law to suppress 
commercialized prostitution issues printed regulations as to the man- 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


209 


ner in which houses of ill fame shall he conducted and details one 
of its officers to visit and inspect these premises in order to see that 
its regulations are complied with. Not only does the law require 
the suppression of commercialized prostitution, but in the book of 
rules of the police department, in the section defining the duties of 
the chief of police, is to be found the following: 

“Section 2—It shall be his duty at all times day or night 
to preserve the public peace .... to abate all 
gambling houses, rooms and premises, and places 
kept or used for lewd or obscene purposes and amuse¬ 
ments 

That the segregated district in Norfolk, like the segregated dis¬ 
trict wherever it exists, fails to segregate is apparent to all of the 
city. While no moral survey of the city was conducted, an ordinarv 
tour of observation, conversation and interviews with interested pei- 
sons indicated that the official record of the number of houses of 
prostitution is most conservative. That the department does not 
even enforce its own regulations within the segregated district is 
apparent, since in almost all of the houses, notwithstanding the pro¬ 
hibition against the sale of liquor, large quantities of bottled beer, 
and in a few instances, whiskey, are kept on hand for sale. 

The policy of segregation now in force in the city may be said 
to consist merely in the registration of approximately 378 women, 
while it is common knowledge among the policemen and the of¬ 
ficials that the number of unregistered commercialized prostitutes 
plying their trade within the city is greater than the number regis¬ 
tered. 

The so-called segregated district is located within a stone’s throw 
of police headquarters on the same street. This street, for the greater 
part, is fairly well lighted although the uptown district is poorly 
lighted. 

It is not at all uncommon for from 500 to 1000 sailors of the 
United States navy to be given “shore leave” or general liberty 
for a night in Norfolk. The spectacle of hundreds of these employees 
of the government spending their evening s leave in a municipally 
protected chasm of vice, located under the very eyes of the officials 
paid and required by law to suppress vice, cannot be observed with¬ 
out feeling the city is a partner in this industry even though not for 
profit. 

Suppression Recommended 

The state law imposes upon the city officers the duty of sup¬ 
pressing commercialized vice. Even though there existed no such 
law, it would be recommended that the only safe and proper policy 
for the city to adopt is the policy of suppression. While it may be 
argued and, indeed, is argued by some of the officials of the city of 
Norfolk that it is impossible to “wipe out” the social evil, it has 
nevertheless been proved that efficient suppression will greatly mini¬ 
mize commercialized vice and at least relieve the city of the odium 
of being more or less of a partner in the industrv. Therefore, the 


210 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


immediate suppression of commercialized prostitution through a 
vigorous campaign against disorderly houses and houses of assignation 
is urged. 

To do this it is essential that the uniformed force and the detec¬ 
tive bureau, as such, be relieved of all duties with regard to the en¬ 
forcement of the laws against prostitution except as they are required 
to report faithfully and diligently all premises suspected of being 
maintained for immoral purposes. The investigation of complaints 
and the enforcement of the laws should be conducted through a small 
staff of confidential investigators or secret service men operating- 
under the supervision and direction of the administrative head and 
the chief. These investigators may be selected from among the 
police officers, but their work should be of a confidential character 
and their selection based upon their personal integrity and special 
fitness. If the personnel of the police force does not include men 
fitted for this work, then council should provide funds and permit 
the administrative head and the chief to secure such investigators 
from outside the police department. 

The declaration of a policy of suppression, followed by a vigorous 
prosecution of one or two of the more prominent owners of dis¬ 
orderly houses and houses of assignation, would, of itself, tend to 
reduce the number of such places and would result automatically in 
closing many of them, the owners of which are now cognizant of the 
“liberal” policy in effect. 

It has been proved that commercialized prostitution, in a degree, 
has been organized as an industry and that it flourishes where vice 
is protected or permitted, and decreases, transferring its operations 
to other places, when the city authorities express and demonstrate 
their determination to rid the city of it. Norfolk, judging from 
observations made, is at this time greatly in need of such a campaign. 

A tour by a committee of representative citizens through the 
so-called segregated district on any Saturday night should be suf¬ 
ficient to prove the need of an earnest effort by the city officials to 
remove this vice center from the city. Upon such a tour it would 
only be necessary to walk through the streets, without entering 
these houses, to witness many, sometimes hundreds, intoxicated 
sailors from the United States navy and young men of the city roam¬ 
ing in and out of these places and through the streets. 

Little or No Gambling Observed 

To the credit of the department it may be said that the depart¬ 
ment has succeeded, in so far as could be ascertained during the 
course of the survey, in the complete suppression of professional 
gambling resorts. What gambling was observed could scarcely be 
said to be professionally maintained. 

Excise Law Properly Enforced 

The department may be said to be efficient in the enforcement of 
the provisions of the excise law prohibiting the sale of liquors on Sun¬ 
day and during prohibited hours. 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


211 


Records and Reports 


A study of the records maintained at 
the precinct station-houses and the reports 
fleers showed the following: 


police headquarters and 
made by commanding of- 


Ihat the record of arrests as at present maintained is not a 
complete record in that no facts concerning the causes of 
arrest are entered except the title of the charge, such as 
petit larceny, violation of section of the penal code, etc., 
and that no definite entry is made concerning prisoners 
released on bail. The record does not show the serial number 
of the arrest. 


T hat the procedure for recording citizens’ complaints is defec¬ 
tive m that all complaints are not made the subject of 
record, and those which are, are entered in such a manner as to 
make ready reference impossible. 

1 hat the pedigree of prisoners is not recorded in the record of 
ariests until the day following the arrest 1 , and then not 
necessarily by the desk sergeant who receives the prisoner. 

I hat the scratch book contains entries of such varied types as 
to make difficult ready reference. 

That letter copy-presses are still in use. 

That no telephone record is maintained. 

That no proper record of licensed places is maintained. 

That precincts do not maintain any record showing the existence 
of suspected disorderly houses. 

That no efficiency records are kept. 

The records do not make possible intelligent statistical compila¬ 
tions. 


While the activities of the department are recorded in a general 
way, it is not possible to establish readily from the records facts 
which should be a matter of current review. 

Therefore, it is recommended that the system of records and 
reports be revised so as to provide, among others, the following 
records, the entries in which should be governed by the rules and 
regulations and should be inspected and supervised by the chief and 
his captains: 

1—The Record of Arrests 

The record of arrests at present in use is adequate, but the 
rules should require that the pedigrees of prisoners be en¬ 
tered in this record in ink at the time the prisoners are 
arraigned at the desk, and that in this book should be en¬ 
tered a list of the property taken from the prisoners, a 
brief statement of facts concerning the cause of arrest, any 
marks of violence on the prisoner and a detailed statement 
concerning the release of the prisoner on bail, if the prisoner 


212 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


is released on bail. In addition to the information concern¬ 
ing each prisoner now called for by the headings in this 
book, there should be entered the following: social condi¬ 
tion as to married or single, the nationality of the prisoner's 
parents, the prisoner's residence, the name and address of 
the complaining witness and the final disposition of the case. 
All arrests in this book should be serially numbered. Be¬ 
sides the number, there should be a symbol to indicate the 
class of the case as follows: 

“M”—misdemeanor 

“F”—felony 

“J”—juvenile delinquent 

“V”—vagrant 

“W”—witness 

At the end of the month the arrests recorded in this book 
should be recapitulated so as to show the number of males, 
females, occupation, color and age of prisoners, and the 
number of arrests for misdemeanors, felonies, juvenile de¬ 
linquency, vagrancy and as witnesses. This record should be 
indexed. 

2— Desk Blotter. 

The record now maintained as a scratch book should be re¬ 
vised and officially known as the “desk blotter.” The rules 
should provide that in this record should be entered merely 
the movements of the force. All other matters now record¬ 
ed on the scratch book should be entered in the records 
especially provided for them. By the movements of the force 
is meant assignments to duty, as shown by the roll calls and 
special details, the presence of members of the force at the 
station-house, on reserve or reporting for duty, the visit lo 
the precinct of any member of the force not a member of 
the precinct command, and the service of subpoenas or 
summonses by or upon any member of the command and the 
inspection of the station by superior officers or other officials 
of the department. 

3— Record of Accidents and Aided Cases. 

Such accidents as are reported upon by the police should 
be recorded in a book especially provided for this purpose. 
In this book should be entered under proper printed head¬ 
ings a complete and detailed account of all persons aided 
through the department of police. The record in each case 
should include a complete pedigree of the person or per¬ 
sons aided, similar to the pedigrees required in arrest cases, 
and a statement of facts in connection with the case, includ¬ 
ing the names and addresses of witnesses, and, in brief, any 
statements made by them. Persons receiving lodging at the 
station-houses should be regarded as aided cases and their 
pedigrees entered in this record. Each case should be num- 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


213 


bered consecutively, beginning the first case with the num¬ 
ber “One” in the series to which it belongs, and identifying 
it with the initial letter of the series as— 

“A”—accident cases 

“L”—lodger 
i —prisoner 

This book shoud be indexed and each month recapitulated. 

Because of litigation arising out of street accidents, 
constant demands are made upon the police of most all 
cities for certified copies of the police record as to accidents. 
Therefore, the records of aided cases should be compiled in 
such a manner as to facilitate ready reference and furnish 
detailed information. 

4— A Telephone Record. 

There should be maintained in each subdivision of the de¬ 
partment a telephone record. In this record should be en¬ 
tered all incoming and outgoing telephone messages, the 
rank, surname and command of persons receiving and trans¬ 
mitting the message; and the surname and official designa¬ 
tion of the person under whose direction it was sent should 
be recorded and the time of the completion of the conversa¬ 
tion should be considered as the time of the message. 

5— Citizens’ Complaint Book. 

There should be maintained at each precinct station a 
citizens’ complaint book. This book should have printed 
headings calling for definite information concerning each 
complaint received. In it should be recorded every com¬ 
plaint received at the station and the action taken upon it. 
The rules should definitely prescribe the procedure to be 
followed in the handling and recording of complaints. No 
record of the department is of greater importance than the 
record of complaints, since it is through the complaints and 
the action taken upon them that it is possible to determine 
the crime conditions of the city and the efficiency of the 
police in dealing with them. Therefore, not only should 
care be taken to provide a record which will result in an 
intelligent recording of the complaints and the disposition 
of them, but the procedure must include a method of bring¬ 
ing to the administrative head from this record current in¬ 
formation as to the complaints received and handled. To 
provide for a proper control over the complaints and a proper 
review of the activities of the members of the force in the 
investigation of these complaints, it is necessary to install 
a card record system, which will bring to the central filing 
bureau at the office of the administrative head a card record 
of every complaint received and the action taken upon it. 
A printed card having headings identical with the headings 
contained in the citizens’ complaint record should be furnish- 


214 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


ed. The rules should require that, immediately upon the 
receipt of a complaint, the desk officer receiving it shall 
make a complete entry in the citizens’ complaint book. If 
the complaint requires the attention of detectives, the desk 
officer should be instructed to telephone the complaint to 
the detective bureau before the complainant has left the sta¬ 
tion-house The officer in charge of the detective bureau should 
then instruct the desk officer as to how the complaint is to 
be handled and the desk officer should then advise the 
citizen complainant as to what steps are to be taken. As 
soon as the investigation of the complaint has been com¬ 
pleted, or forty-eight hours after the receipt of the com¬ 
plaint, the commanding officer of the precinct should for¬ 
ward to headquarters a card record of the complaint which 
should show the results obtained or the action taken upon it. 

Each complaint should be serially numbered and the 
records should show the number of the post upon which the 
matters complained of occurred or the conditions existed 
and the names of the patrolmen covering the post. These 
cards should be filed at headquarters by precincts and classi¬ 
fied as to posts. Different colored cards should be provided 
upon which to report felony and misdemeanor complaints. 
Thus, it will be possible for the chief and the administrative 
head upon inspecting the complaint file to see at a glance 
the sections of the city in which the crime complaints are 
increasing and the class of crimes committed. They will 
then be able to see which of the posts in the city concerning 
which the greatest number of complaints have been received. 
Moreover, they will have in their offices a written report 
of every complaint, so that when inquiries are made con¬ 
cerning conditions in the various sections of the city, and 
complainants allege that they have frequently complained 
to the local police without result, it will not be necessary 
to refer the complainant to the police officers responsible 
for the suppression of the condition because they can obtain 
from their own files all the information the department has 
concerning the conditions complained of. 

Thus, the complaint file will also furnish means of securing 
currently and without difficulty statistics concerning the 
complaints received by the department and the results obtain¬ 
ed in the investigation of them. Requiring that the precinct 
officers send to the central office a card record of each com¬ 
plaint affords protection to the chief and the administrative 
head against the well-established practice among subordinate 
police officers of ignoring so-called trivial complaints and 
failing to call attention to increases of complaints. 

Monthly Report of Complaints 

The chief should require that from these complaints there 
should be prepared a monthly report showing the number of com¬ 
plaints, classified in accordance with a standard crime classification, 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


215 


and for this purpose he should cause to be prepared a crime classi¬ 
fication which would be used by all subordinate branches of the 
police department in reporting upon complaints. 

The following crime classification is suggested for adoption : 

Crimes of Violence 

Homicide 

Accidental 

Murder 

Assault 

Simple 

Felonious 

Attempting felonious 
Kidnapping 
Extortion 
Rape_ 

Arson—dwellings 

Crimes of Theft 

Burglary 

Residence—day 

Residence—night 
Business—day 
Business—night 
Unlawful entry 
Larceny 

Grand . 

Pickpocket 

Petit 

Attempted grand 
Attempted petit 
Robbery 

Highway 

Attempted highway 
Accompanied by assault 
Stolen property 
Buying 
Receiving 
False pretense 

Obtaining money or property 
Forgery 
Fraud 
Blackmail 

Crimes by Children 

Theft 

Disorderly 

Begging 

Truancy 

Peddling 

Gambling 

Use. possession or traffic in habit-forming drugs 


216 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Crimes Against Children 

Cruelty to 
Rape of 

Endangering morals of 
Selling liquor to 
Selling tobacco to 
Unlawfully exhibiting 
Failure to provide for 

Failure to comply with compulsory education law 
Employing in violation of labor law 
Admitting minors to dance halls, moving-picture 
shows, theatres, etc., unlawfully 
Abandonment of 

Complaints Against Chastity 

Prostitution 

Keeping and maintaining houses of 

Disorderly houses 

In connection with saloons 

In connection with employment agencies 

Houses of assignation 

In tenement houses 

Street soliciting 

Mann act (white slave law), violation of the 
Male living from proceeds 
Collusion of police with those engaged in 
Renting property for purposes of 
Abduction 
Of minor 
Of adult 
Seduction 
Bastardy 

Of adults 
Attempted 

Immoral exhibitions and performances 
Indecent exposure 

Distribution of obscene pictures or literature 

Crimes against nature 

Adultery 

Complaints of Gambling 

Pool selling 
Policy 

Bucket shops 
Gambling house 
Lottery 

Street gambling 
Poker clubs 
Slot machines 

Complaints of Drug Habit 

Habit-forming drugs 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


217 


Use of 
Possession of 
Sale of 

Maintaining establishments for use of 

Complaints Involving Regulative Statutes 

Excise 

Illegal sale of liquor 
Disorderly saloons 

Sale of liquor during prohibited hours 
Miscellaneous 
Election law, violation of 
Illegal registration 
Illegal voting 

Fraudulent practices in connection with elections 
Employment agency law, violation of 
Operating without a proper license 
Municipal rules and regulations governing, 
violation of 

Sabbath law, violation of the 
Motor vehicle laws, violation of 
Operating without a license 
Speeding 
Miscellaneous 
Firearms 

Carrying concealed 
Discharging 
Illegal sale of 
Labor law, violation of 
Tenement house law, violation of 
Usury 

Condition of boilers 
Miscellaneous 

Complaints Concerning Violations 
of Regulative Ordinances 

Health—violation of sanitary code 
Sale of exposed food stuff 
Expectoration in public places 
Food adulterations 
Miscellaneous 

Fire protection and prevention 
Sending of false alarms 
Reckless blasting 

Storing combustibles without permit 
Sale of fireworks without permit 
Failure to comply with fire prevention rules 
and regulations 
Miscellaneous 

Ordinance with relation to weights and measures, 
violation of 


218 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Licenses 

Operating without license 
Miscellaneous 
Traffic conditions 
Speeding- 
Congestion 
Miscellaneous 
Park regulations 
Dance halls 

Disorderly 
Admitting minors 
Improperly conducted 
Miscellaneous 
Pool and billiard parlors 
Disorderly 
Admitting minors 
Improperly conducted 
Pawnbrokers, affecting or concerning 
Theatres, regulations concerning 
Overcrowding 
Ticket speculating 
Miscellaneous 
Mendicancy 

Unnecessary noises on highways 
Push cart peddlers 
Miscellaneous 

Destruction of Property 

Arson 

Business property 
Malicious 

Sending false fire alarms 
Injuring city property 
Interfering with railroad signals 
Interfering with private property 
Miscellaneous 

Miscellaneous Complaints 

Abortion 
Fugitive 
Vagrancy 
Suspicious persons 

Interference with lawful assemblages 

Disorderly persons 

Conspiracy 

Derelicts in river 

Cruelty to animals 

Complaints of matters under jurisdiction of other 
departments 

Card Records Which Should Be Maintained at Precincts 

0—Card record of licensed places 

A card record should be maintained of every business which 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


219 


in any way comes under the jurisdiction of the police, one 
copy to be kept at the office of the chief and one in the 
precinct in which the premises is located. These cards 
should show the name, address, character of business, the 
number and the kind of license issued, the date of issuance 
and expiration in connection with each licensed premises. 
On the reverse side of the card provision should be made 
for recording under printed headings inspections of premises 
and arrests made or complaints received in connection with 
the premises. These cards should be filed, classified as to 
the kind of license, such as saloon, pool and billiard parlor, 
theatre, moving-picture show, furnished-room house, board¬ 
ing house, bowling alley, etc. etc. 

From the information contained on these cards the cap¬ 
tain of each precinct should be required to file an annual 
report which should contain a complete history of the com¬ 
plaints received and the action taken by the police in con¬ 
nection with the premises and persons licensed. This in¬ 
formation can be of great value to the licensing authorities 
in determining whether or not a license should be renewed. 

7— A card record of members of the force 

A card record of the members of the force assigned to the 
precinct should be maintained. These cards should show for 
each member the name, age, residence and date of appoint¬ 
ment, the home telephone number of the policeman, whether 
married or single, number of children and former occupation. 
Upon the reverse side of the card should be kept a record of 
the efficiency ratings, record of complaints received con¬ 
cerning the policeman and also his delinquencies. Thus, a 
card should contain a complete history of the policeman 
from the day lie enters the force until he ceases to be a 
member. At such times as he is transferred to another 
precinct he should take the card with him and deliver it to 
the commanding officer of the precinct to which he is as¬ 
signed. At the date of appointment three of these cards 
should be prepared—one to be retained in the office of the 
administrative head, one in the office of the chief of police 
and the third at the precinct station to which he is assigned. 

8— Card record of vacant houses 

When a citizen notifies the police precinct that his residence 
is about to become vacant for any reason the “vacant house 
officer” is notified and he is supposed to observe the premises 
from time to time. In this way it is hoped to furnish protec¬ 
tion to the vacant houses against robbery. It is recommend¬ 
ed that this practice be abandoned and that the procedure 
be changed so as to provide for a card record of vacant 
houses, a copy of which should be retained at the precinct 
station and a copy furnished the patrolman on the post upon 
which the house is located. This card should show among 



220 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


other things the location of the house, the name of the owner 
or occupant, the name and address of the person to be 
notified in case of any unusual occurrence at the house and 
the name and description of any caretaker, watchman or 
other person who might from time to time return to the 
house. Such persons should be given an identification card 
signed by the captain of the precinct in order that they may 
be properly identified if discovered in the house by the police 
during the absence of the owner. 

The sergeants should be instructed from time to time to 
inspect these premises to see that the doors and windows 
are locked. 

Card Records Which Should Be Prepared at the Precinct and 
Forwarded to Headquarters 

9—A card record of arrests 

The card record of arrests at present in use should be con¬ 
tinued but the form improved and the procedure for the 
filing of the cards revised. The cards at present do not con¬ 
tain a complete history of the case nor do the desk sergeants 
enter upon these cards the dispositions of the cases in court, 
this being done by a clerk at headquarters. It is recommend¬ 
ed that these cards contain printed headings similar to those 
of the record of arrests recommended, and that the desk 
sergeant be required to enter upon these cards the police 
court disposition, if the case is terminated within twenty- 
four hours after the arrest. If the case is continued, how¬ 
ever, the card should be sent to headquarters with the nota¬ 
tion thereon of the date to which the case has been ad¬ 
journed. At such time as the case is finally disposed of, a 
supplemental card, which should be of different color than 
the original, should be forwarded to headquarters. In the 
filing division all pending cases should be filed separate and 
apart from the closed cases, and as the pending cases are 
disposed of they should be placed in the “closed” file. Each 
policeman should be required to report the dispositions of 
liis arrest cases and the sergeants required to enter these 
dispositions on the card, thus relieving the headquarter’s 
clerical man of this work. 

10—Card record of aided cases 

Accident cases are reported by the patrolman upon the same 
form used for all other reports. These cards are filed at 
headquarters chronologically by months without being in¬ 
dexed either as to name of the person injured or the location 
of the accident. Moreover, because no regular procedure is 
followed with regard to the kind of information to be record¬ 
ed in connection with accidents, many of these reports are 
valueless. 

Therefore, it is recommended that a card similar to 
the arrest card be provided for reporting aided and accident 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


221 


cases. These cards should have the same printed headings 
as appear in the record of accident and aided cases recom¬ 
mended for use. The cards should be forwarded to head¬ 
quarters—one for each case—and should be filed alphabetical¬ 
ly- . The rules should provide that information concerning 
accident cases should not be furnished at the police station 
but supplied at headquarters from these cards. This would 
afford better control over information concerning police mat¬ 
ters than is at present exercised. 

11—Card record of cases of intoxication 

In .order to provide the department with complete data for 
statistical and analytical purposes concerning arrests for 
intoxication, the desk sergeants should be required to for¬ 
ward to headquarters upon a specially provided card a record 
of all arrests for intoxication. This card should be in ad¬ 
dition to the regular arrest card already suggested. The 
information contained on it should be in accordance with 
the suggestions offered in the section of this report dis¬ 
cussing the inebriety problem. 

12— Record of patrolmen’s time 

Instead of the large printed time book now kept at each 
precinct and at headquarters, there should be installed a loose- 
leaf time record which would provide a separate sheet for 
each member of the- force upon which would be showin 
the absences of all members for an entire year. 

13— Record of special service performed by policemen 

A card record of special service performed by members 
of the force in connection with mass meetings, large as¬ 
semblages, weddings, etc. should be maintained. All appli¬ 
cations for such service should be made in writing by per¬ 
sons requesting the service and upon a specially printed 
card. Upon the back of this card there should be printed 
headings calling for a definite report upon the service render¬ 
ed. indicating the name of the policemen assigned, the num¬ 
ber of hours and date of special service, and whether the 
policemen assigned were from reserve, off duty or taken 
from patrol posts. These cards should be forwarded to 
headquarters and the information contained upon them 
tabulated for purposes of determining the cost to the city 
of this kind of service. 

Reports Which Should Be Prepared at Precincts and Forwarded to 
Headquarters 

14— The daily morning report 

Each morning the commanding officer of each subdivision 
should be required to prepare a morning report which 
should be made upon a specially provided form having print¬ 
ed headings calling for the following information : 

The date, day of the week, weather 


222 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


The number of men present at each roll call and 
the number of officers by rank 
Then number and names of persons absent and 
the cause of absence under the following' classi¬ 
fication : 

Detailed 
With leave 
Without leave 
Sick 

Suspended 

Number of posts patrolled, number not patrolled 
Number of persons aided, with description of the 
manner aided, classified as to sex, as follows: 

Number sick 
Injured 

Rescued from drowning 

Suicide 

Found dead 

Founded drowned 

Lost children found 

Foundlings 

Disposition in all aided cases should be shown 
under proper headings 

All arrests, classified as to offenses and sub¬ 
classified as to felonies, misdemeanors and 
juvenile delinquents, showing the number of 
male and female arrests under each of the 
classifications. Name of prisoners, should 
not be included in this report 
'Phe number of complaints received, classified 
as to subjects complained of, such as 
Burglaries 
Murders 
Holdups 

Pocketpicking cases 

The number of persons reported missing 

The amount of property reported stolen 

The amount of property recovered 

Number of convictions, classified as to crime 

Sentences imposed 

Remarks 

Under this heading should be reported any 
unusual occurence with regard to the build¬ 
ings or property of the department. This 
report should be forwarded to police head¬ 
quarters before 9 A. M. each morning. 

15—Precinct weekly report of suspected premises 

The comanding officers should be required to file a weekly 
report upon a specially provided form with printed head¬ 
ings showing premises suspected of being operated illegally, 
such as gambling houses, disorderly saloons, houses of pros- 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


223 


titution, “fences”, etc. Upon this report should be indicat¬ 
ed the location, the name of occupant, the name of owner 
of the property, the address of owner, type of building, 
such as tenement, office, factory, etc., purpose for which it 
is used, date first reported, by whom reported, action taken 
to suppress, and final disposition. 

This report should be made out in triplicate, one copy 
to be retained at the precinct station, the second copy to be 
retained at the office of the chief and the third copy at the 
office of the administrative head. 

Ifi—Monthly report of licensed places 

Captains should be required to file a monthly report show¬ 
ing the inspections made of licensed premises, such as mov¬ 
ing-picture shows, pool and billiard parlors, theatres, etc., 
with the results of the inspections. Any complaints re¬ 
ceived or arrests made in connection with these places 
should be indicated upon this report and the information 
referred to the licensing authorities. 

17— Consolidated daily report 

From the precinct morning reports the chief should cause 
to be compiled a consolidated daily report containing a re¬ 
capitulation of all of the information reported by the pre¬ 
cincts and the detective bureau. In addition to this infor¬ 
mation for the current period, the consolidated report should 
have comparative data concerning complaints for other 
periods 

18— Modern efficiency records should be installed 

The installation of a modern efficiency record system is 
recommended. This system should provide for a proper re¬ 
porting of the service rendered by the policemen and an in¬ 
telligent appraisal of its value. To do this it is necessary to 
establish a merit and demerit system which will provide 
merits for special efiforts and demerits for delinquencies and 
inefficiency. To furnish the basis of the appraisal of the 
service rendered, care must be taken to properly record 
the work performed through the use of the patrolman’s 
report form recommended and, in awarding merits for special 
efforts, the character of the work performed, with relation 
to it as special opportunity for earning merits or tempta¬ 
tion offered, must be duly considered. Therefore in estab- 
lishing an efficiency record system it will be necessary to 
classify the patrol posts and the other classes of public service 
in such a manner as to equalize opportunity for earning merit. 
This can only be done after a careful study of police conditions 
of the several patrol posts and by dividing them into such 
classes as suburban, residential, congested tenement, business, 
water front, etc. 

While the commanding officers should be required to 
report monthly upon the service rendered or delinquencies 
noted, the ratings should be given quarterly. 


224 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


The following forms suggested for use of members of the force 
in reporting upon conditions observed are merely suggestive and 
are not intended to be exhaustive. When filed by the policeman at 
the station-houses they should be retained for purposes of serving 
as an aid in the appraisal of the policemen’s work. The conditions 
reported upon these forms which require the attention of other city 
departments should be entered upon special forwarding forms de¬ 
signed for this purpose. 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


Precinct 


Post Aii. 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 



La/VIP OUTAGES 


Date...191 


Location of Lamp 

Post 

No. 

Time 
Lamp 
Went out 

Time 
Lamp 
Was Re¬ 
lighted 

Broken 

Globe 

Broken 

Mantle 

Kind of 
Lamp 
















— 


































Use check mark for broken globe or mantle. 


ACTION TAKEN 


(Rank) 


(Signature) 


(Shield No.I 









































































226 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Precinct 


Post No. 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 



Date 


1 01 


REPORT OF 


(Indicate subject here.) 


TIME OF OBSERVATION 

LACATION . 

DETAILS . 


ACTION TAKEN 


(Rank) 


(Signature) 


(Shield No.) 


NOTE 

On this general form the Patrolman shall report Fires, Unlocked Premises, Sus 
picious Places, etc. 

Each report of an occurrence or observation shall bear a subject title in the 
blank space provided. 





























POLICE DEPARTMENT 


227 


Precinct 

REPORT OF ARREST 

Post No. 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


DATE OF ARREST 

TIME 


NAME OF PRISONER (surname) (first name) 


AGE 

NATIONALITY 

SEX 

COLOR 

MARRIED 

OCCUPATION 



M 

BLACK 

OR 




F 

WHITE 

SINGLE 



CHARGED WITH 


PLACE OF ARREST 


PLACE OF DETENTION 


DETAILS COVERING ARREST AND CHARGE 


PROPERTY TAKEN FROM PRISONER 


NAME AND ADDRESS OF COMPLAINANT 


NAMES AND ADDRESSES OF WITNESSES 


FRONT. 











































COURT TIME RECORD 


228 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


On or 
off 

Duty 







Total 








° u S 

5 » 
o < 


C 

CJ 

a 

u-t s 

O.SP 

a 


O fc 


c 

O' 


o 

O. 


« s # 

M c c 

■o o E 
3 o o 

»-> O JJ 

T 3 U < 

c 

n> v?tJ 

r 3 '£ 

OT3-- 
U CO 
cc 
w. 

o 


rt 

Q 


REVERSE 


(Signature of Arresting Officer) (Rank) (Shield No.) 































































POLICE DEPARTMENT 


229 


Precinct 


Post No 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 



PATROLMAN’S REPORT 


Date.191 

To the Commanding Officer of the Precinct: 

At.M., I OBSERVED THE FOLLOWING CONDITION AND TOOK TIIE 

ACTION noted: 


LOCATION 


Matters Affecting Department of Public Works 

BROKEN CURB STONE 


BROKEN SIDEWALK 


DANGEROUS TREF 


DEFECTIVE SEWER CATCH BASIN 


HOLE IN STREET 


BROKEN MANHOLE COVER 


NAME DEPARTMENT OR CORPORATION 

CONTROLLING BROKEN MANHOLE COVER 

Matters Affecting Department of Water Supply, Gas and Electricity 

DANGEROUS GAS BOX 


BROKEN ELECTRIC WIRE 


LEAKING GAS 


SAGGING ELECTRIC WIRE 


BROKEN STREET LAMP 


LEAKING HYDRANT 


BROKEN ELECTRIC LIGHT STREET FIXTURE 

Matters Affecting Bureau of Buildings 

UNPROTECTED EXCAVATION 

1 DANGEROUS FENCE 


DANGEROUS CONDITION OF BUILDING 

| DANGEROUS SHED 


DANGEROUS CONDITION OF SIGN, ELECTRIC OR OTHER 


Matters Affecting Bureau of Encumbrances 

SIDEWALK ENCUMBRANCE, PERMANENT 

— 

SIDEWALK ENCUMBRANCE, TEMPORARY 

HIGHWAY ENCUMBRANCE 



Matters Affecting Department of Licenses—Unlicensed Places 


STORES, 2d HAND 

STANDS 


POOL ROOMS 


PAWNBROKERS 1 

AUCTIONS 


JUNK SHOPS 


DANCE HALLS j 

BOWLING ALLEYS 


SHOOTING GALLERIES 



Matters Affecting Department of Street Cleaning 


SIDEWALK OR STREET ENCUMBRANCE (RUBBISH) 


Matters Affecting Department of Health 


D11AD CAT 


□ 

DEAD DOG 


DEAD HORSE J 


(over) 

FRONT 






























































































230 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


REPORT HERE ANY MATTER NOT LISTED ON CARD 


ACTION TAKEN 


(Rank) 


(Signature) 

REVERSE 


(Shield No.) 





































POLICE DEPARTMENT 


231 


Precinct 


Post No. 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 



VIOLATION OF CORPORATION ORDINANCE 



CIVIL ACTION 



I Hereby Report Having Observed the Following Violation of Corporation 
Ordinance: 


DATE OF REPORT DATE OF VIOLATION TIME 

A. 

*' 

P- 

LOCATION 


NAME AND ADDRESS OF VIOLATOR 


NAME AND ADDRESS OF OWNER 


NATURE OF VIOLATION 


(OVER) 

FRONT 



























232 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


WITNESSES 


REMARKS 


(Signature) (Rank) 


REVERSE 































POLICE DEPARTMENT 


233 



CAUSE OF ACCIDENT 




















































































234 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


answer every question, strike out irrelevant matter. 


(Vehicle No. 1) 

Driver’s Name I License 

n„H Address 1 Number 

(Vehicle No. 2) 

Driver’s Name 1 License 

and Address 1 Number 







Owner’s Name 
and Address 

License 

N umber 

Owner’s Name 

and Address 

License 

Number 







Driven by —Owner, Family, Employee, 
Other: 

Sex. Age. No Driver 

Driven by —Owner, Family, Employee. 
Other: 

Sex. Age. No Driver 

Violation of Traffic Regulations 

Violation of Traffic Regulations 

Vehicle —Street Car No. 

Heavy Truck Taxicab Train 

Light Truck Carriage Bus 

Private Auto Buggy Cab 

Motorcycle Bicycle Hack 

Ambulance 

Saddle Horse 

Vehicle —Street Car No. 

Heavy Truck Taxicab Train 

Light Truck Carriage Bus 

Private Auto Buggy Cab 

Motorcycle Bicycle Hack 

Ambulance 

Saddle Horse 

Power — Electricity, Gasoline, Steam, 
Horse, Foot or Hand 

Other: 

Power — Electricity, Gasoline, Steam. 
Horse, Foot or Hand 

Other: 

Defects of Vehicle —Steering Gear, 
Brakes, Lights Out 

Other: 

Defects of Vehicle — Steering Gear, 
Brakes, Lights Out 

Other: 

Skidding? Yes No 

Was Vehicle Equipped with Tire Chains? 
Yes N o 

Skidding? Yes No 

Was Vehicle Equipped with Tire Chains? 
Yes No 

Fault or Incapacity of Driver — 
Intoxicated, Ill, Crippled, Deaf 

Other: 

Fault or Incapacity of Driver — 
Intoxicated, Ill, Crippled, Deaf 

Other: 

Damage to Vehicles or to Other Property 

Weather —Clear, Foggy, Raining, Snowing, High wind 

Street Conditions— Slippery, Wet, Snow, Ice, Street Lights Out, Poorly Lighted, 
Excavation, Obstruction, Encroachment 

Pavement —Kind Condition Broken? Yes No 

Was the Officer who makes this report a 
witness of the Accident? Yes No 

Was a Traffic man on post at the time of 
accident? Yes No 

Broken pavement was reported? Yes No 
By whom ? 

Date 



(Signature; 

Rank. Shield No. 



REVERSE 






























































POLICE DEPARTMENT 


235 


Comprehensive Annual Report Recommended 

As already dicussed elsewhere in this report, the semi-annual 
reports are of little or no value as aids to administration. It is there¬ 
fore recommended that the department issue a comprehensive an¬ 
nual report which will contain information compiled in such a manner 
as to make the report of value not only to the administrative head 
but to the legislative body as well. The report should present a 
true picture of the activities of the department and contain not only 
the facts of the year reported upon but tables which will furnish a 
basis of comparison with the work performed and the crime con¬ 
ditions of previous years. The report should be divided into sections 
as follows: 

1— A section devoted to the welfare of the force. In this section 

should appear tables showing— 

Number of appointments 

Transfers 

Promotions 

Deaths 

Dismissals 

Trials upon charge and dispositions 
Reinstatements 

Number of days of absence of policemen due to 
illness 

Prevailing causes of illness 
Sanitary conditions of station-houses 

2— A section showing the financial condition of the division. In 

this section there should be tables showing— 

Total amount of money appropriated, year by 
year, for the past five years 
Expense tabulated as to salaries, repairs and 
supplies, new equipment, feeding of prisoners, 
printing, procuring of evidence, maintenance 
of horses, and automobiles and other expendi¬ 
tures 

Revenues from license fees, sale of condemned 
equipment and policemen’s fines 

:?—A section giving statistics as to repairs and supplies prepared 
in tabular form as to— 

Character, amount and value of new equipment 

purchased 

Repairs 

Supplies 

4 _A section showing the activities of the force. This section 

should be divided into two parts, namely, detective bureau 
and uniformed force 

a —Under the heading “detective bureau” the fullest detailed 
statistics possible should be furnished in tabular form as to 
the following: 


236 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


(1) Complaints received requiring detective 
attention, showing the number investigated, 
the number unfounded, the number upon which 
arrests were made, those upon which no action 
at all was taken, and the number upon which no 
results Avere obtained after action had been 
taken 

12) Arrests for felonies made by members of the 
detective bureau classified as to crime, showing 
the number of males and females, and the dis¬ 
position of the cases under the headings “con¬ 
victed'’, “acquitted”, and “pending”. 

(3) Arrests for misdemeanors. The same classi¬ 
fication as for felonies should be used 

(4) Seperate tables showing arrests upon war¬ 
rants, pick-ups and those brought back from 
other cities 

(5) Number of murders committed and reported 
each year for the five preceding years, with the 
number of arrests and dispositions stated in the 
same table 

(6) Cases of burglary and house-breaking re¬ 
ported. This table should sIioav the burglary 
Avas effected under a form heading, such as 
false keys, breaking doors insecurely fastened, 
etc., and the hours betAveen which the burglary 
was belieA^ed to have been committed, the total 
A^alue of property stolen, the total value of 
property recoA r ered, the number of cases in 
which no ultimate loss occurred, number of 
cases in unoccupied houses, and the number of 
cases in which violence Avas used 

(7) Number of arrests and investigations made 
by each member of the detective bureau, classi¬ 
fied as to crime and place under proper head¬ 
ings 

b—Under the heading “uniformed force” the fullest detailed 
statistics should be furnished in tabular form as to the 
following: 

(1) Complaints received and investigated by the 
uniformed force, showing the number investi¬ 
gated, the number unfounded, and the number 
upon which arrests Avere made, those upon 
which no action at all was taken, and the num¬ 
ber upon which no results were obtained 

(2) Arrests for felonies made by the members of 
the uniformed force, classified as to crime, 
shoAving the number of males and females. 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


237 


and the disposition of the cases under the head¬ 
ings “convicted”, “acquitted”, and “pending” 

(3) Arrests for misdemeanors. The same classi¬ 
fication and headings as for felonies should 
be used 

The report should contain a separate table of 
arrests classified by crimes in which should be 
noted all arrests made by motorcycle men, to¬ 
gether with the disposition of same. All of 
these tables should show the total number of 
arrests under the same heading for each of the 
preceding five years 

—A section showing in tabular form persons aided by the de¬ 
partment of police. This table should show the number of 
male and female persons to whom assistance has been given. 
By persons aided is meant injured person sent to the hospital, 
missing persons found, dead bodies sent to the morgue or home, 
children found by the police, foundlings taken care of, etc. 
The headings for this table shold include— 

Assault 

Accidental injury 
Attempted suicide 
Found dead 
Found drowned 
Insane 

Rescued from drowning 

Sick 

Suicide 

Persons missing 

Number reported missing 
Number located by police 
Number otherwise found 
Number still missing 
Lost children 

Number reported lost 
Number found by police 
Number reported found 
Number still missing 
Foundlings 

Number found by police 
Number brought to the station house 
Lodgers 

The side columns should contain the following headings: 

Male 

Female 

Total 

Claimed 

Taken home 

Taken to hospital 


238 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Attended at station house 
Prisoner 

Taken to morgue 
Restored to parents 

6—A section showing general crime statistices. This section 
should contain in tabular form the fullest statistics as to the 
following: 

a—Arrests for intoxication. Headings for this table should 
be so arranged as to show in separate columns the number 
of arrests between 1A. M. and 0 A. M., 6 A. M. and 1 P. M.. 
1 P. M. and 7 P. M., 7 P. M. and 1 A. M. on each day of the 
of the week. Additional headings based on the informa¬ 
tion contained on the intoxication arrest card should be in¬ 
corporated in a table. A distinction should be made between 
arrest for intoxication and disorderly conduct involving a 
breach of the peace. 

Because of a lack of statistics concerning arrests, it will 
be impossible in the next annual report to show arrests for 
more than one offense by the same person. Columns, 
however, under the headings, first, second, third and fourth 
arrests should be incorporated in the table, and the informa¬ 
tion under these headings based upon the statements of 
the prisoners as to the number of former arrests. In subse¬ 
quent years, however, the information under these head¬ 
ings should be based upon the department’s own statistics 

b—Arrests for disorderly conduct and prostitution. These 
tables should show the nationality and sex of all prisoners, 
classified as to crime. The information in this table should 
be in accordance with the forms already suggested 

c—Arrests for juvenile delinquency. This table should show 
the number of children arrested for juvenile delinquency at 
various ages, classified as to the nature of offense. It should 
show the disposition of each case under the following 
headings: 

Tried 

Convicted 

Acquitted 

Discharged 

No complaints taken 

Paroled 

On Bail 

Detained in charitable institutions 
Sent to reformatory school 
Forfeiture 
Death of defendant 

d—Sentences of persons imprisoned and fined. This table 
should show the amount of fines tabulated in amounts from 
$5.00 to $1,000, with side columns for terms of imprison¬ 
ment from five days to over ten years 


POLICE DEPARTMENT 


239 


e—Terms of imprisonment tabulated to show prison sentences 
imposed from five years to life, classified as to crime 

f—Arrests for intoxication, disorderly conduct and prostitution 
on holidays 

S Disposition of all arrests, classified as to offense, showing 
total number of arrests made for each crime, records of 
convictions and acquittals (with sub-classifications as to 
convictions by plea of guilty or by trial and acquittal by 
direction, by verdict), or discharged, (subclassified as to 
discharges by magistrates, or grand jury, by dismissal of 
indictment, or on own recognizance) and cases pending, 
subdivided as follows: 

In jail 
On bail 

Under parole and forfeiture 

h—Persons convicted of offenses, classified according to age and 
sex 

i—Record of weapons confiscated, classified as to— 

Revolvers 
Shot guns 
Stilettos 
Swords 

7 — Signal service—Under this heading should be given statistics 

as to the number of incoming and outgoing telephone calls over 
the division wires, and all recommendations as to improving 
the telephone service 

8— Recommendations—Under this heading should be noted all 

recommendations concerning the force and its management 

To maintain the records suggested above no more clerical help will 
be required than is now employed, but if such records are kept properly 
the administrative head and the chief will have at their disposal informa¬ 
tion which will make possible intelligent control, direction and account¬ 
ability and enable the department heads to discuss the work being 
performed by the members, and to support requisitions for appropria¬ 
tions to carry on the work. 

The clerk in the office of the chief should be relieved of much of 
the needless clerical work now being performed by him, such as the 
dailv review of the reports of the signal box service and the record of 
light outages. The review of the reports upon the signal box service 
should be made bv the commanding officers of the respective precincts, 
while the reports on the light outages should be forwarded daily to 
the department of public works and the monthly record maintained by 
that department and not by police headquarters. 






THE POLICE COURT 


241 


THE POLICE COURT 


(16) 
































THE POLICE COURT 


243 


THE POLICE COURT 

All persons taken into custody by the police are arraigned in the 
police court. This court is presided over by the police justice who 
is elected by council to serve four years. Although elected by the local 
council, he is, nevertheless, a state officer and receives a salary of 
twenty-five hundred dollars per year, which is paid by the state. Under 
the statute creating this court, the justice is given summary jurisdic¬ 
tion in all misdemeanor cases and can commit to jail for a period not 
to exceed one year defendants arraigned before him. In cases tried 
under the common law the justice has the power to commit for any 
period he chooses. 

Term of Office of Police Justice Should Be Ten Years 

The police court is an inferior court and not a court of record. 
It is essentially a branch of the city government, and as such should be 
presided over by a city official. Inasmuch as all persons who are 
arrrested, except those arrested upon warrants issued after indictment, 
are arraigned in this court and as it combines also the functions of a 
domestic relations tribunal and a juvenile court, it should be as far 
removed from politics and political interference as possible. The jus¬ 
tice who presides over this court should be appointed for a term of 
not less than ten years, and he should be appointed by and be responsi¬ 
ble to the central executive. Therefore, it is recommended that the 
law be amended so as to provide that the police justice be appointed by 
the central executive for a term of ten years, and that he be removed 
only through impeachment proceedings before a court of higher juris¬ 
diction. His salary should be paid by the city and the cost of operating 
and maintaining this court should likewise be borne by the city. 

Cost System Should Be Abolished 

The system of assessing costs against defendants convicted in 
this court is a relic of an antiquated system which long since has been 
abandoned in progressive cities. This system was originated for use in 
small communities, such as towns and villages, upon the theory that 
the law-abiding citizens should not be taxed for the errors of those who 
sought to violate the law. This theory is no longer accepted as sound, 
but instead it is now a well-established principle that all citizens in a 
communty should bear their individual share in the cost of caring for 
delinquents and of administering equal justice through the courts. 
Moreover, in the end, the cost system is not an economy because a 
great majority of the persons arraigned in police courts are poor and 
unable to pay the costs or the fines, with the result that they are 
committed to city prisons or jails where they must be fed and main¬ 
tained at the expense of the taxpayers. Thus, a man fined five dollars 
and costs who is unable to pay either must remain in jail not only for 
a period equal in days to the amount of the fine, but for an additional 
period equal in days to the amount of the costs assessed ; and it is not 
infrequent for the costs in a case to be even greater than the amount of 
the fine imposed. Therefore, it is suggested that the law be amended 
so as to abolish the cost system. 


244 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Moneys Collected By the Court Should Be Paid Into City Treasury 

While the moneys collected as fines in the police court or, in fact, 
in any court, should not be regarded as a source of revenue or income, 
nevertheless, since the city bears the expense of maintaining the court, 
all moneys collected by the court in fines or forfeitures should be the 
property of the city and turned into its general funds. 

Clerk of Court Should Be Civil Service Employee 

• The records of the court are maintained and the clerical work is 
performed by the clerk of the court who is appointed by the judge and 
may be removed at the pleasure of the judge. He is paid a salary of 
twelve hundred dollars a year. It is recommended that the position 
of clerk of the court be placed in the classified civil service group, and 
that appointments to this position be made as the result of a civil 
service competitive test. His removal should be made only for cause 
and after a hearing. 

Clerk of Court Should Be a Stenographer 

Although this is not a court of record, it is nevertheless essential 
that testimony given during examination in important cases should be 
recorded stenographically. S'uch a record would be of value to the 
prosecuting officers in preparing cases for the grand jury and would 
likewise serve as a check against witnesses changing their testimony 
before the grand jury or at the trial of the case. Therefore, it is recom¬ 
mended that the clerk of the court be required to qualify as a steno¬ 
grapher, and that he report examination stenographicallywhen directed 
by the court. 

Procedure for the Handling of Juvenile Delinquents Defective 

Although a juvenile court has not been established, the police 
justice holds special sessions of his court on Tuesday and Friday after¬ 
noons for the hearing of juvenile cases. While the statutes relative to 
Juvenile delinquency aim to provide; “That the care, custody and dis¬ 
cipline of the child may approximate as nearly as may be that which 
should be given by its parents and protect the child, where possible, 
from the stigma of the jail and the contaminating influences of assoc¬ 
iating with criminals” (Section 14, chapter 350 acts of assembly, 1914), 
the city of Norfolk fails utterly to comply either in letter or spirit with 
the statutory requirements. It is the plain intent of the law that the 
child coming into the custody of the police or the court shall receive 
treatment vastly different from that accorded to the adult charged with 
crime. 

The fact is that the procedure at present in force with relation to 
juvenile delinquents differs from the court procedure as applied to 
adults only in that the cases of the children are heard at special session 
of the court which are held on Tuesday and Friday afternoons, and that 
no persons other than those connected directly with the cases are ad¬ 
mitted to the court room. The child is arraigned before the judge in 
the open court room, charged with the specific offense complained of, 
tried in precisely the same manner as an adult, and in most cases 
represented by counsel. While it is true that spectators are not allowed 


THE POLICE COURT 


245 


in the court room during these hearing, nevertheless the child is not 
by any means given a private hearing. Witnesses, police officers and 
lawyers interested in the several cases to be heard are present in the 
court room. White children, pending the hearing of their cases on 
trial days are permitted as a rule to stay in the court room under the 
observation of the matron, while colored children are detained in the 
prison pen attached to the court in the same manner as are adults. 
Moreover, the sessions of the court on Tuesday and Friday afternoons 
are not exclusively for juvenile cases, but domestic relation complaints 
are tried at the same time and in the same room and frequently in the 
presence of the children. 

The procedure at these hearing is defective and the requirements 
of section 2, chapter 350 of the acts of assembly of 1014, are not ob¬ 
served. This section expressly provides that: 

“No court or justice, unless the offense is aggravated, 
or the ends of justice demand otherwise, shall 
sentence or commit a child under 18 years of 
age charged with or proven to have been guilty of 
any crime, to a jail, workhouse or police station, 
or send such a child on to the grand jury, nor 
sentence such a child to the penitentiary” 

Children as young as twelve years of age are committed to the city 
jail, sometimes pending the hearing of their cases in the police court and 
other times pending their transfer after conviction to reformatory 
institutions. In the less important cases, and especially those of white 
children, the court paroles the delinquents in the custody of their par¬ 
ents. White children, however, are detained in the police station under 
the charge of the matron, pending the hearing of their cases. Since there 
are only two sessions of the court at which children’s cases are heard 
each week, children who are arrested between the court dates and can¬ 
not obtain bail must remain either in the jail or in the police station. 

While the conditions under which white children are detained at 
the police station, although contrary both to statute and good practice, 
are not very bad, in that a matron is in charge and the children are not 
confined to cells, the conditions under which the colored children are 
detained in cells in the jail are such as to deserve only condemnation 
and severe criticism. 

Children Sentenced To Be Whipped By Parents 

Not only are children committed to jail to be detained as prisoners, 
but occasionally the judge sentences a child to be whipped by its parents 
and designates the city jail as the place for the execution of the sentence. 
The child is sent to the jail upon a commitment and the city sergeant 
furnishes the cat o’ nine tails and supervises the beating of the child by 
its parents. For his part in this cruelty, the sergeant receives from the 
city fifty cents for admitting the child to the jail and thirty-five cents 
for the child’s board, even though the child was not in jail long enough 
to partake of a meal. 


246 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


No Medical Inspection of the Children 

The children arraigned before the court are not subjected to any 
medical inspection or examination. 

Juvenile delinquency, according to leading authorities, is frequently 
the direct result of mental or physical deficiencies in the child. Ade¬ 
noids, defective eyesight, defective hearing, incipient curvature of the 
spine and other physical defects are declared by scientists to be directly 
responsible for considerable juvenile delinquency. The truant from 
school is often tempted to remain away from school by his inability to 
make the teacher understand his condition. This is frequently the 
result of defective eyesight or adenoids. 

Probation Officer a Police Captain 

No regularly appointed probation officer is provided the court. A 
police captain attached to the first precinct is required to perform the 
services of probation officer as best he can in addition to his work as 
police captain of the busiest precinct in the city. Children, as well as 
adults, are placed under his care. A few ladies volunteer their ser¬ 
vices in connection with probation work affecting women and girls. 

The police officer keeps no regular probation records, but reports 
orally to the judge upon the progress of the cases assigned to him. 

Aside from the fact that the police captain has sufficient work to 
do in connection with his supervision of the precinct under his command, 
it is not in accordance with modern practice to use the police depart¬ 
ment for probation work. On the contrary, the experience of those who 
have studied the subject shows the practice to be incompatible with 
good probation work. 

Treatment of Juvenile Delinquents Entirely Wrong 

'The only conclusion that can be drawn from the facts set forth in 
that the whole procedure for the handling of juvenile delinquents is 
defective, contrary to the spirit and letter of the law, unproductive of 
results, and, at times, decidedly cruel. 

These conditions are due principally to the failure of the city to 
provide a detention home for the children, and to the absence of a 
legal code which make the delinquent child the subject of an inquiry 
to determine the cause of his delinquency rather than to make him a 
defendant, and which will provide for the punishment of those really 
responsible. An anlysis of the records of the police department and 
the court shows that the number of cases of juvenile delinquency 
reported does not warrant the establishment of a separate juvenile 
court, but it is recommended that the procedure for the handling of 
these juvenile cases be completely revised. It is therefore recom¬ 
mended that provision be made at once for the establishment of a deten¬ 
tion home for children to which may be committed juvenile delinquents 
or neglected children pending investigation of their cases, a medical 
examination, and a final determination as to their disposition. All 
children brought to the attention of the court should be given a 
thorough physical examination so as to aid the court in determining a 
proper disposition of the case. 


THE POLICE COURT 


247 


The practice of committing children to the jail for any reason 
should be dicontinued at once. Until such time as the city provides a 
detention home for children, delinquents should be cared for by the 
matron at the police station. While the colored and white children 
should be segregated, no distinction should be made as to the kind of 
treatment afforded. It is no economy for the city to subject colored 
children complained of as delinquents to inhuman and indecent treat¬ 
ment, such as they receive under present conditions. The delinquent 
colored child of today who is neglected by the city and subjected to 
ill advised discrimination by the officials will be the criminal of to¬ 
morrow. 

The practice of ordering children to be beaten by their parents 
should not only be discontinued, but it should be prohibited by statute. 

Cases Should Be Heard in Private Chambers 

Since it is unnecessary to establish a separate juvenile court, the 
judge should conduct all hearing in juvenile cases in his private cham¬ 
bers and all persons except those interested in the specific case under 
investigation should be excluded from the room. This should be done, 
first, because the statute practically prohibits public hearing in a juven¬ 
ile court and requires that the case be heard in the judge’s chamber 
(section (5 of chapter 289, acts of 1910) ; and, second, because good 
practice demands that the juvenile delinquent shall not be exposed 
even to the view of persons interested in other juvenile cases. 

If a juvenile detenion home is provided, it should include a 
specially equipped room for the use of the judge in the investigation of 
cases. 

As a convenience to the parents of the children and agencies inter¬ 
ested in the child, such as the school authorities, etc., the hearings 
should he held in the evening. At any rate, they should he held sepa¬ 
rate and apart from hearing in domestic relations cases. 

Legal Procedure Should Be Revised 

The legal procedure for the investigation of juvenile cases should 
be revised so as to remove from it all of the aspects of a criminal in¬ 
vestigation. The child never should he required to be a defendant and, 
indeed, the investigation should he made with a view to determining 
the cause of the delinquency rather than of the guilt or innocence of the 
child. The whole aim of the proceedings should he to determine the 
responsibility of the parents or guardians for the condition of the child. 
If there is to be a defendant in'the action, it might well be the parent 
or guardian and not the child. The proceedings should not be referred 
to as a trial, or even a hearing, but rather as an investigation. 

Probation Officers Should Be Appointed 

The efficiency of a juvenile court in working a reform among 
children depends’almost wholly upon the medical aid rendered and 
good, conscientious probation work. The court should strive, first, to 
determine whether the child is defective or if its physical condition is the 
principal contributing factor in the delinquency; and, second, to pro¬ 
vide for careful, scientific treatment, whether through physicians or 


248 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


carefully selected probation officers. Good probation work is by no 
means limited to the mere requirement that the child report upon stated 
days to some adult person and entry in a record of the visit as indicat¬ 
ing progress in the case. Therefore, provision should be made for the 
appointment of two probation officers by the central executive as a 
result of a competitive civil service examination. xV woman should be 
assigned to the care of women and girls, and a man to the care of men 
and boys. They should be required to maintain proper records which 
would include a complete detailed history of each case and a detailed 
report of the work performed by them in the handling of it. 

Every child placed on probation presents a different problem, 
thus requiring difference in correctional treatment. The probation 
officer who is efficient is more than a peace officer and more than a 
mere overseer of children. The contact which the probation officer 
must establish with the child and its home must be such as to aid the 
parents in enforcing discipline and aid the child in understanding its 
responsibilities to the home and to the state. Therefore, if the proba¬ 
tion officer is to be of real aid to the child, he or she must have a 
thorough understanding of the child’s case in order to make a diagnosis 
of the case and to prescribe the corrective treatment necessary. No 
two children respond to exactly the same kind of treatment. The 
child who responds to kindness and suggestion rebels at severe treat¬ 
ment or harshness, while the child who is temperamentally in need of 
severe and stern government, can never be reached through sugges¬ 
tion or extreme gentleness. Therfore, it becomes apparent that the 
probation officer, who must prescribe and frequently adminster the 
treatment, must procure and maintain a complete record of the history, 
personal likes and dislikes, personal habits, home surroundings, type 
of companion, and living conditions concerning his charges. More¬ 
over. in order to determine the efficiency of the probation officer, it is 
necessary that these records be frequently inspected by the court. 

Sunday Sessions of the Court Recommended 

Sessions of the court are not held on Sundays or holidays. There¬ 
fore, persons arrested after the court has adjourned on Saturday or on 
the eve of a holiday must either remain in jail until the next session of 
the court on Monday morning, or the day following the holiday, unless 
they are able to secure bail. Not only does this result in overcrowding 
the station-house cells and require the feeding of the prisoners for an 
extra day, but likewise it is conducive to the encouragement of profes¬ 
sional bondsman. It is therefore recommended that the judge arrange 
to hold court Sunday mornings and on the mornings of holidays. If 
the statutes do not permit of this procedure, their amendment is reconi 
mended. 

Annual Report 

For the guidance of counsel and the legislature, in the considera¬ 
tion of statutes and ordinances, the judge should issue a comprehensive 
annual report with regard to juvenile delinquency proceedings. /\ de¬ 
tailed annual report is not only useful as a guide, but is necessary for 
statistical and historical purposes. 


JUSTICES OF THE PEACE 


249 


JUSTICES OF THE PEACE 





JUSTICES OF THE PEACE 


251 


JUSTICES OF THE PEACE 

There are ten justices of the peace, all of whom are elected by 
council and serve for a term of four years. Two are elected from each 
ward although their jurisdiction is not confined to the ward from which 
they are selected but extends over the entire city. 

The justices of the peace receive no salary but are paid by fees, 
which they are permitted to retain. 

The justices no longer have trial powers but their functions in¬ 
clude the issuance of warrants, civil and criminal, and the acceptance 
of bail in misdemeanor cases and in felony cases in which there is only 
a slight suspicion of guilt. 

For the trial of criminal and civil cases there are maintained sepa¬ 
rate courts. There is no longer need for retaining in Norfolk the 
positions of justices of the peace. All of the functions of these officials 
could be performed more efficiently atid certainly more economically by 
the courts as now established. 

Criminal Warrants Should Be Issued Only by the Police Justice 

Better control would be exercised for the issuance of criminal 
warrants and an economy effected if they were issued only upon 
application to the police justice. If this were done, needless arrests 
upon warrants would be greatly reduced and the practice of using- 
criminal warrants for collecting bad debts would be discontinued. 

Pending the amendment of the law, all city warrants or warrants 
of any kind obtained by members of the police department should be 
secured from the police justice. 

Civil Processes Should Be Issued by the Civil Justice 

All of the functions now exercised by the police justice should be 
transferred to the clerk of the Norfolk civil court. 

Police Should Be Empowered to Accept Bail 

For the purpose of admitting to bail persons charged with misde¬ 
meanors, the justices arrange so as to have a justice of the peace at 
police headquarters at all times. The procedure for admitting persons 
to bail should be changed by statute so as to provide that bail in 
misdemeanor cases could be accepted by the sergeants, captains or 
chief of police and bail in felony cases could be accepted by the judge 
of the corporation court or the police justice. 

While the law should protect the state in every way against the 
escape of prisoners charged with crimes, it should also give to.the 
person accused of crime convenient and reasonable means of obtaining 
bail without cost. 

One Justice Should Be Retained 

No provision is made at present for an assistant or deputy judge 
to serve in the absence of the police justice. At such times as he is 
absent council designates his successor and, if the absence is not due to 


252 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


illness, the police justice pays the salary of the substitute. It would 
be more efficient, however, if one of the justices of the peace were re¬ 
tained in office and empowered to serve as police justice either in the 
absence of the present judge or at such times as the business of the 
court makes necessary two judges sitting at the same time. The 
statutes should provide that the justice <~>f the peace should not be able 
to exercise any of the functions of the police justice except when sitting 
as a police justice. 

Therefore it is recommended that the law with relation to justices 
of the peace be revised so as to provide for the appointment of one 
instead of ten justices and the transfer of the functions now performed 
by these justices to the existing courts. 

It is also recommended that the procedure for accepting bail for 
persons arrested be revised so as to empower the superior police officers 
to accept bail in misdemeanor cases and the police justice to accept 
bail in felony cases. 


CITY SERGEANT 


253 


CITY SERGEANT 














CITY SERGEANT 


255 


CITY SERGEANT 

The city sergeant serves as the sheriff of the city and as warden of 
the city jail. As sheriff, he serves all of the processes of the corporation 
court and of the circuit court of Norfolk city. As sergeant of the city 
jail, he is responsible for the feeding and custody of all prisoners com¬ 
mitted to his care. He is elected by popular vote for a term of four 
years and, except for a salary of $1,200 per year from the city of 
Norfolk, he serves upon a fee basis, both as sheriff and warden. His 
income from fees, according to his own statement, during the year 
1914 was $12,584.54 of which $2,115.94 was received by him in fees 
as sheriff and $10,468.60 in profits as warden or manager of the jail. 

After January 1, 1916, however, in accordance with a recently 
enacted law, the city sergeant will only be permitted to retain approx¬ 
imately $6,000 of the fees collected in connection with the duties of 
his position. Thus, the yearly income from the position of city ser¬ 
geant will not exceed $7,200. 

Position of City Sergeant Should Be Abolished 

The two functions, those of sheriff and those of warden of the 
jail in Norfolk, are vastly different and as such should be separated and 
performed by two separate officials. In Norfolk, with a fully equipped 
and adequate police force, the sheriff has no occasion to exercise the 
functions of a peace officer, which in rural communities are the princi¬ 
pal duties of a sheriff. 

The jail is essentially a municipal institution and should be so 
regarded, supported, as it is, in a large measure by financial contribu¬ 
tions from the city for the salary paid the city sergeant at present 
and the general maintenance and upkeep of the jail itself. Conse¬ 
quently, it should not be operated upon a fee basis, but should be sup¬ 
ported as a municipal institution and operated and supervised by mun¬ 
icipal authorities under the direction of the central executive. 

The feeding of prisoners in jails upon a fee or contract system has 
long since been condemned in progressive municipalities as not only 
inefficient and costly but, as a rule, as against public policy in that 
the prisoners are never so well cared for under the fee system as they 
are under the direction of the municipal authorities. 

Therefore, it is recommended that the law be amended so as to pro¬ 
vide that all processes shall be served by the clerk of the court, who 
shall assume the functions and duties commonly imposed upon the 
sheriff with regard to the service of processes. The processes served 
by the city sergeant, acting as the sheriff, are the orders of the courts 
and could be served just as efficiently and accounted for by proper 
returns through the employment of process servers by the clerk of the 
court. All fees collected in connection with the service of these pro¬ 
cesses should be used to defray the expenses of this branch of the court 
and the surplus turned into the municipal treasury. 

It is also recommended that the warden of the jail and all other 
employees be appointed by the central executive as the result of compe- 


256 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


titive, civil service examination, and that they be retained on a salary 
basis which should be fixed by the council in the same manner as 
are the salaries of all other city employees. 

The Jail 

City Sergeant as Jailer 

The city jail combines the functions of a city prison, county jail and, 
indeed, those of a pententiary in that practically all classes of prisoners 
sentenced to terms not to exceed two years are committed in it and 
detained there. 

There are committed to this jail the following classes of prisoners: 

Those committed for violations of city ordinances 

Those committed for violations of state laws—-mis¬ 
demeanors and felonies 

Those committed by federal courts, either to serve 
sentences or to await their transfer to other 
prisons 

Persons detained upon the order of court as witnesses, 
and Those arrested on civil orders of arrest 

Fees in Connection with Detaining of Prisoners 

The city jail is by no means a charitable or philanthropic institu¬ 
tion, indeed, statutory fees are provided for every phase of the work- 
in connection with the handling of the prisoners. Thus, the city 
sergeant, as the jailer, is paid fifty cents for receiving a prisoner, re¬ 
gardless of what kind of a commitment he may be detained upon or how 
long he is to remain. If the prisoner is detained pending an examina¬ 
tion or a trial and is taken to court upon the date set for his examination 
and the case is adjourned, upon his return to await another trial or 
hearing the city sergeant is again paid fifty cents for receiving him. 

Not infrequently children are sent to the city jail to be whipped by 
their parents. In such cases, the city sergeant allows the use of his 
private office for the parents to whip the child with a “cat-o’-nine-tails” 
provided by him. He receives a fee of fifty cents for admitting the 
child and thirty-five cents for boarding the child for a day, not with¬ 
standing the fact that the “little prisoner” may only be in his care fifteen 
or twenty minutes—long enough for the parent to carry out the order 
of the court. 

For the boarding of the prisoners, various rates have been estab- 
lisd by law. The city, when it sends to the city jail prisoners convicted 
of having violated its ordinances, is charged at the rate of 35 cents per 
day for the board of each prisoner, while the state is charged at the 
rate of 2434 cents per day for the first hundred prisoners and 18 cents 
per day for all prisoners in excess of this number. Prisoners committed 
to the care of the city sergeant by the United States government are 
paid for at the rate of 35 cents per day. All of the prisoners receive 
exactly the same kind of food. 

Just why the city, which contributes largely to the support and 
maintenance of the institution, should be charged 35 cents a day for 



CITY SERGEANT 


25 7 


prisoners committed and the state but 18 cents, was not clearly ex¬ 
plained. 

No Statutory Provision as to Food 

While the state fixes the rate of board which the city sergeant 
shall charge and the amount of money he shall be permitted to keep for 
himself as his share of the earnings of the jail, it makes no statutory 
provisions as to the kind of board which shall be given, but merely 
inspects from time to time the grade and quality of the food. 

Jail Should Be Reorganized 

Not only is this system of fees in connection with the feeding of 
prisoners to be condemned, but the whole plan upon which the jail is 
operated is subject to criticism. That prisoners of all classes and 
committed for all offenses should be housed in this jail, which, as will 
be desci ibed later, affords no opportunity for industrial occupations, 
no method of segregating the prisoner, no opportunity for effecting re¬ 
formatory treatment and no proper segregation of the sexes, is but to 
permit a condition which is not only contrary to the most modern plan 
of handling prisoners, but is continuing in operation a system which 
has been proved throughout the United States to be a failure. 

The institution is wholly unsuited for the incarceration of prisoners 
committed for long terms. Therefore, it is recommended that the law 
be changed so as to provide that the city jail shall be operated and con¬ 
ducted merely as a city prison for the detention of prisoners committed 
awaiting trial and of those committed for short terms for minor infrac¬ 
tions of the laws and ordinances. Provision should be made by the 
city for housing elesewhere, under modern conditions, prisoners con¬ 
victed of crimes and sentenced for terms in excess of three months. 

It is true, according to the city sergeant that long term prisoners 
committed for a year or more are for the most part transferred to the 
state penitentiary and employed in the building of roads but, after 
all, this is done by arrangement between the officials in charge of the 
state penitentiary and the city sergeant and not by virtue of any statu¬ 
tory provision. To continue in operation the city jail under the pres¬ 
ent plan is but to inflict unjust and indecent treatment upon a class of 
prisoners who are not committed for the commission of any serious 
crime, and to fail to effect reforms among those prisoners who are in 
need of correctional treatment along modern lines. 

Therefore, using this city jail, constructed as it is, for use as a 
correctional institution for the detention of prisoners in need of cor¬ 
rectional treatment is neither an economy nor a just treatment of the 
unfortunate prisoner committed to it. 

The Jail Improperly Managed 

For the failure of the state to provide, through legislation, for 
the imprisonment of its delinquents under proper conditions, neither 
the city sergeant nor the officials in charge of the jail can be held 
responsible, but for the lack of management and the inefficiency dis- 
(17) 


258 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


played in handling the prisoners and caring for the institution, the 
city sergeant and his employees can and should be criticised. The staff 
of officers employed in the jail is as follows: 

For maintaining records and bookkeeping— 

1. Deputy city sergeant at a salary of $95 per month 

As jailer and in charge— 

l. Deputy city sergeant at a salary of $80 per month 

As assistant jailer— 

1. Deputy city sergeant at a salary of $00 per month 

As nightwatchman— 

1. Deputy city sergeant at a salary of $45 per month 

As engineer— 

1. Deputy city sergeant at a salary of $88 per month 

Representing the city sergeant and serving as chief deputy— 

1. Deputy city sergeant at a salary of $115 per month 

All of these officers are the personal selection of the city sergeant 
and are paid by him out of the fees collected from the city and state. 
They are all subject to removal by the city sergeant and serve under 
his personal supervision. Thus, in this institution, which has an aver¬ 
age population of 250 and sometimes houses 450 prisoners, male and 
female, there are assigned to the care of the jail, both for maintaining 
discipline and managing and maintaining its records, six deputies, one 
of whom is a night watchman, another an engineer, and a third the 
clerical deputy. Only three deputies are left for the actual care of the 
prisoners and the maintenance of discipline. 

As the jail had a population of 232 at the time the survey was made, 
with but three men receiving and managing the prisoners, it was not 
surprising to find filth and dirt in the cells and an absolute lack of 
discipline among the prisoners. 

Cells 

All of the 132 cells were carefully observed and inspected. A 
majority of them were found to be unclean and infested with vermin and 
cockroaches to such an extent as to render them unfit for habitation. 
These cells, which are not of inferior construction, but indeed are of 
a quite modern type, could only have become filthy and vermin in¬ 
fested through the negligence of the officers of the jail and the absence 
of proper supervision on the part of the city sergeant. That these 
cells be thoroughly scoured with soap and hot water at once is urged; 
and that they be inspected daily by the city sergeant or warden of the 
jail himself is recommended. 

The condition of the cells was due to the fact that the prisoners 
are permitted to retain quantites of foodstuffs in their cells and that 
the type of mattress used afford every encouragment to germ life. 
There are two bunks in each cell and the bunks are fitted with rye- 
straw mattresses which are not covered with an additional removable 
ticking. Prisoners are assigned to cells which have not been carbolized 
since the previous occupancy and in which not even the mattresses 
have been cleaned. The prisoners are permitted to store under these 


CITY SERGEANT 


259 


mattresses foodstuffs, old clothing and whatever materials they choose. 
The danger of the infection of these cells with disease germs is increased 
by the practice of permitting prisoners, regardless of the length of 
their terms, to wear their own clothing, which is neither fumigated nor 
cleansed upon admission. The prisoner are not even required to 
bathe immediately after admission. It is true that the prisoner whose 
clothing is so unclean as to be noticeable, or, as one keeper expressed 
it, “walking,” is not permitted to wear his own clothing but is given a 
suit of underwear and overalls. 

The city sergeant and the jailer declared that the cells were 
disinfected daily with a germicide at a large annual expense, but as 
long as prisoners are permitted to wear their own clothing and the 
present type of mattress is retained and as long as prisoners are 
permitted to retain food in their cells, no germicide, however diligently 
applied, will serve to keep this prison clean and free from vermin and 
roaches. In order that the prison may be kept habitable and clean, it 
is recommended— 

1— That all prisoners upon admission he thoroughly 

bathed and that their clothing be removed and 
fumigated 

2 — That the prisoners begiven and required to wear 

prison clothing. It is neither suggested nor 
recommended that this prison clothing take the 
form of a striped suit or clothing of a degrad¬ 
ing nature, but merely that it be clean and com¬ 
fortable 

3— That no prisoners be permitted to retain in their 

cells any foodstuffs, whether prison fare or priv¬ 
ately purchased food 

4 _That the cells be thoroughly scoured with soap and 

water, and that for the extermination of roaches 
and vermin the runways and crevices be fre¬ 
quently dusted with commercial sodium fluoride 
mixed with equal parts of flour. No liquid distin- 
fectants are necessary, the cleanliness of the jail 
to be wholly dependent upon its frequent scour¬ 
ing with plain soap and water 

5 —That all of the mattresses be recovered and that 
each be supplied a second removable ticking 
which should be removed and cleaned weekly 
and that each mattress covering be changed 
whenever the occupant of a cell is changed 

In order to keep the cells clean, it is essential that the strictest 
discipline be maintained in the prison and that each morning the cells 
be inspected carefully in the presence of those occupying them, and 
that any condition of uncleanliness discovered should result in dis- 
cipling the prisoner responsible. 

The cells are lighted only from the corridors, thus affording little 


260 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


or no light to the individual cells. The prisoners are permitted to use 
candles in their cells, a practice which should be prohibited. 

It is recommended that a system of lighting be installed which will 
provide for individual cell lights operated from a main control switch 
in the office of the warden. 

There are maintained three padded cell and two dungeon cells. 
The padded cells are used for demented person pending their removal 
to the asylum, and the dungeon cells for the punishment of prisoners 
violating the rules. 

The dungeon cells, which are in every sense of the word dungeons, 
should be abolished. Not only are they insanitary and difficult to clean, 
but it is not possible to ventilate them properly. To provide for 
solitary confinment as a means of punishment, it is only necessary to 
use a regulation cell on a regulation cell tier. 

When prisoners are placed in the dungeon cells for punishment 
no record is made. It is recommended that no prisoner be subjected 
to punishment except upon the order of the warden and after a proper 
record has been made, which will show not only the name of the 
prisoner punished and the cause, but also the length of time in the cell 
and the amount of food and nourishment administered. 

Method of Serving Meals Defective 

Although there is a room in the jail which could, without much 
expense, be equipped as a mess hall and the prisoners permitted to take 
their meals there in accordance with modern jail procedure, the meals 
are served to the prisoner in their cells. Tin plates are used, many of 
which are so old that it is impossible to clean them thoroughly and 
many so damaged as to render them useless because they leak. 

Two meals are served daily—breakfast between 7 and 8 A. M. and 
dinner at 3.30 P. M. At meal times the prisoners are required to 
go to their cells on the ringing of the jail gong and the trusties carry 
the food to the tiers. The liquid foods, such as soups, are hauled in 
large metal barrels, like those commonly used for hauling ashes, and 
the meats are carried on large pans. Tin plates are laid along the tier 
and a quanity of soup poured into them. The meat is then placed 
on the tin plates by the trusties, who use their hands instead of spoons 
or other utensils. The prisoners, according to the city sergeant, can 
have as large a quanity of food at meal times as they choose. The 
majority of them endeavor to secure enough at the dinner hour, 3.30, 
to provide for another meal later on in the evening. 

The menu served, for which the city pays 35 cents a day, the 
state 24^4 cents for the first hundred prisoners, and 18 cents for all 
thereafter, and the United States government, 35 cents a day, as already 
mentioned, consists of the following: 

For breakfast, each day: 

Bread, molasses and cofifee 

(The bread used being ordinary baker’s bread, the 
molasses of an inferior grade and the cofifee of 
poor quality) 


CITY SERGEANT 


261 


For dinner, the menu varies during the week, as follows: 

Monday —Beef, vegetable soup 

Tuesday—Dried fish, boiled or fried potatoes 

W ednesday—Beef stew with vegetables 

Thursday—Boiled beef or pork, with peas or beans 

Friday—Fish 

Saturday—Beef, soup and rice 

Sunday—Corned beef and cabbage, occasionally 
pork and beans 

Bread is served at all meals and sugar is allowed in the coffee. 
No prison cook is employed, one of the colored trusties being assigned 
to act as cook. 

It is reccommended that both the manner of feeding the prisoners 
and the menu be changed. From 8 o’clock in the morning until 3.80 in 
the afternoon is too long a period to expect the prisoners to go without 
food, especially when they receive nothing but store bread, coffee and 
molasses at their morning meal. Three meals should be served during 
the day in a mess hall. The menu should be revised so as to provide a 
greater variety and more nutritious food. 

In the Allegheny County jail located in Pittsburgh, where the 
prisoners are fed three times a day at an average cost of G 1 /? cents per 
day, the food is wholesome and nutritious. The menu for a week in 
the Allegheny County jail is made up somewhat as follows: 

Sunday 

Breakfast—Wholesome bread and coffee of a better 
grade than is used in Norfolk. The bread is 
baked at the prison and may be said to be of an 
especially good quality 

Dinner—Bread and soup—the soup being made of 
vegetables and prepared in such a manner as to 
make it wholesome and nourishing 
Supper—Home-made raisin bread 

Monday 

Breakfast—Bread and coffee 

Dinner—Bread and soup 

Supper—Hamburger steak and bread 

Tuesday 

Breakfast—Bread and coffee 

Dinner—Bread and soup 

Supper—Hamburger steak and bread 

Wednesday 

Breakfast—Macaroni, either boiled or baked, bread 
and coffee 

Dinner—Bread and soup 
Supper—Bread and stewed peaches 


262 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Thursday 

Breakfast—Bread and coffee 

Dinner—Bread and soup 

Supper—Hamburger steak and bread 

Friday 

Breakfast—Bread, coffee and potatoes 
Dinner—Bread and soup 

Supper—Bread and syrup, of a better grade than that 
used in Norfolk 

Saturday 

Breakfast—Bread and coffee 

Dinner—Bread and soup 

Supper—Hamburger steak and bread 

The soup served at noon varies from day to day—one day bean 
soup, another day beef broth, another day vegetable soup, etc. etc. 
The trusties who are engaged in work about the jail are served 
meat for breakfast each day, and are allowed extra portions of bread 
and macaroni. The prisoners are permitted to eat as much bread 
and soup as they choose. 

While the above menu is not recommended as an ideal prison 
fare, the fact remains that it is nutritious and the prisoners to whom 
it is served were found to be in good physical condition. More¬ 
over. the difference in the cost of feeding, between f? 1 /^ cents for this 
menu and an average of 18 cents a day for that served in N'orfolk. 
vvorl 1 provide even better fare than what is served in Pittsburgh. 

It is also recommended that the food be served with greater care 
and cleanliness. 

Prisoners Should Not Be Allowed to 
Purchase Extra Meals 

It is the practice to permit prisoners who can afford it to obtain 
food from the outside between 11 and 12 each day. While the food 
is inspected when delivered, no restriction is placed on either the quanti¬ 
ty or kind of food thus obtained. While prisoners committed to jail 
should be furnished with wholesome and nutritious toed, it is not v ise 
to provide the comforts and convenience of home life, since depriving 
the prisoners of table delicacies is one of the few means at the dis¬ 
posal of the authorities to punish short-term prisoners. This practice 
is unfair to the prisoner who has no money and no means of obtaining 
food from the outside. 

Therefore, it is recommended that prisoners be prohibited from 
having food brought in from the outside, except that on certain days 
they may be allowed a small quantity of fruit. 

As prisoners detained awaiting trial, however, have not been con¬ 
victed of a crime and must he held to be innocent until so convicted, it 
is proper that they be given a different and better grade of food than 
convicted prisoners and that they be permitted to have meals brought 
in to them from outside. 


CITY SERGEANT 


263 


No Provision Made for Segregating Prisoners 

It has already been explained that old offenders and prisoners 
convicted of serious crimes should not be imprisoned in this jail. But, 
since they are, an effort should be made to provide for the segrega¬ 
tion of the different types of prisoners. While this cannot he done 
in accordance with the most approved plans, because of the arrange¬ 
ment of the cell blocks, care should at least be taken in the assign¬ 
ment of prisoners to the cells so as not to bring together in one cell 
different classes of prisoners.' Certain tiers might well be reserved 
for the confinement of those convicted of serious offenses and for old 
offenders. 

Children Committed to This Jail 

Since there is no detention home for juveniles and no other 
place to which the police judge can commit children, pending a hear¬ 
ing of their cases or their transfer to reform schools after conviction, 
they are committed to the city jail, it is not unusual to find boys as 
young as twelve years in cells in the city jail. In order to keep the 
children apart from the adult prisoners, one part of a tier of cells 
is set aside for their use. This attempt at segregation, however, does 
not prevent the children from hearing the vile language and conversa¬ 
tion of the adult prisoners, both male and female, which can he heard, 
in almost all parts of the jail. Moreover, no provision is made to 
keep apart different classes of juvenile delincjuents since all of the 
children are permitted to associate with each other without am super¬ 
vision whatever. The need for a proper juvenile detention home and 
the wrong of sending children to the city jai’ for any reason will be 
found discussed in that section of this survev report relating to the 
police court. 

Women Prisoners Not Properly Cared for 

For the detention of female prisoners, there are set aside two 
sections of the jail, one for white women and another for colored 
women. The white women are imprisoned in a part of the building 
separated from the cell blocks and dormitories are used instead of 
cells, while the colored women are placed in cells located on a tier in 
the men’s cell block of the jail. The location of this tier is such as 
permits of conversation between the male and female prisoners and 
indeed of a view of the female prisoners from the other tiers occupied 
by men. 

For the care of women prisoners, there is employed a matron who 
receives fifty dollars a month from the city of Norfolk and not from 
the fees of the city sergeant. This matron serves only during the 
day time, the women prisoners being without any matron or attendant 
during the night. 

That the colored women are placed in cells in the male section of 
the prison, is due to the insufficient number of cells. To meet this con¬ 
dition, the recommendation of the city sergeant to council in a recent 
report urging the construction of an additional floor of cells over one 
of the cell blocks should be adopted. To imprison women, whether 


264 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


colored or white, in the same cell block with men is so improper, in¬ 
decent and unfair, as to require no further comment in this report, ex¬ 
cept to urge that the condition be changed ?.s promptly as possible. 

To leave forty cv fifty female prisoners all nigh' under the care 
of a male keeper or watchman is equally improper and not in keep¬ 
ing with good practice in prison management. Therefore, it is recom¬ 
mended that arrangements be made for housing all of the female 
prisoners in another section separate from the male section of the 
jail, and that they he under the care of matrons at all hours of the 
day and night. 

No Discipline Maintained In the Jail 

During the survey, several visits were made to the jail and dur¬ 
ing each visit it was apparent that no discipline is maintained among 
the prisoners and that a general conditon of disorder prevails. To 
appreciate the extent of the disorder in this jail, it is not necessary 
to enter, hut merely to pass by on the street. During the examination 
of the employees by the investigator it was necessary from time to time 
for the jailer to make a special effort to obtain the comparative quiet 
necessary to permit the inquiry to continue. The disorder takes the 
form of loud shouting, singing, occasional vile language, and con¬ 
tinuous loud talking. Nothing could serve better to illustrate the com¬ 
plete lack of control over the prisoners and the absence of anything 
like discipline than two incidents which occured a short time before 
the survey, as follows: 

One of Tut prisoners, while observing a “crap” game 
in the jail, was robbed of money which he carried 
in his pocket. So many prisoners were engaged 
in the game and in observing it that in order to 
hold a court proceeding upon the complaint 
of the prisoner robbed it was necessary to have 
the police judge hold a session of court in the jail, 
since it would have been unsafe because of the 
small number of keepers to take all of the wit¬ 
nesses to the police court. In connection with 
this incident, it is interesting to note that 
many of the prisoners in the jail are sent there 
for “shooting craps” upon the street and else¬ 
where. 

At another time, prior to the present administration, 
the property room of ihe police court, which is 
located across the yard from the jail, was broken 
into and robbed by the prisoners and the stolen 
property taken into the jail. 

In many prisons, the mistake of maintaining too rigid discipline 
is made, yet it must be remembered that the absence of disciplinary 
training in the early lives of the prisoners may account of their being 
in jail. 

Aside from the fact that the orderly management of the jail, be¬ 
cause of the character of the institution, requires that proper discipline 


CITY SERGEANT 


265 


be maintained, correctional treatment, if it is to be successful, de¬ 
mands that the prisoners shall be placed under the kind of discipline 
which will serve to effect a reform. 

The lack of discipline was accounted for by the city sergeant by 
the fact that there was an insufficient number of jailors. That there 
are not enough jailors is, indeed, admitted, but this is the fault not 
of the city or the state, but of the city sergeant, who, if he desi'ed, 
could employ a number of keepers sufficient to maintain proper dis¬ 
cipline, paying their salaries out of the large amount of money received 
by him in fees. To attempt to maintain discipline or effect reform 
among 230 or 300 men and women in a jail with only two keepers, can 
be productive of no other condition than that found in the Norfolk citv 
jail. 

Therefore, it is recommended that, when the jail is reorganized 
as a city institution, an adequate number of keepers be provided. 

No Industries Provided at Jail 

While with a proper number of keepers good order could be main¬ 
tained in the jail, no correctional treatment could be provided nor 
reforms among the prisoners effected, since no industries are con¬ 
ducted and no method is afforded for utilizing the time of the prisoners. 
In a city jail located in the center of a city where the majority of the 
prisoners are serving extremely short terms, it is indeed difficult to pro¬ 
vide industries of a character which will be profitable or even economical 
and at the same time serve as a training to the prisoners. This is 
a further reason for urging that long-term prisoners be committed to 
the penitentiary rather than to the city prison. Nevertheless, the ser¬ 
vices of the short-term prisoners could be utilized with benefit to the 
city and themselves by installing in the jail a laundry which could be 
used for doing the laundry work of the fire stations, the police stations, 
the city home and such other institutions. Likewise, a bake-shop 
could be installed and the bread used by the prisoners and at the city 
home baked there. Even a rock pile in the yard would furnish a 
means of keeping the prisoners occupied. At any rate, a determined 
effort should be made by the city officials to discover methods of furnish¬ 
ing employment to the prisoners and to provide some form of industry 
in which machinery could be used by prisoners without any consider¬ 
able training. 

Medical Inspection of Prisoners Essential 

A physician is employed by the state at a salary of five hundred 
dollars per year. In addition to his salary, he receives from the United 
States government the prevailing fee for all visits made to federal 
prisoners and he also receives fees for serving as a member of lunacy 
commissions in connection with prisoners in the jail. This physician, 
however, delegates the work to his assistant and does not, except upon 
rare occasions, visit the jail. The physiciap is appointed by the corp¬ 
oration court to serve until removed by the court. The assistant to the 
jail physician visits the jail daily and upon call, but only for purposes 
of attending such prisoners as request medical treatment. No examina¬ 
tion of prisoners is made to learn whether or not they are infected 


266 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


with disease which might be communicated to other prisoners, and 
which might cause the only jail in the community to be placed in 
quarantine for a period. No examination of prisoners is made to 
learn whether they are defective and require treatment instead of im¬ 
prisonment. 

The jail physician maintains no records, not even in cases where 
narcotics are prescribed for prisoners addicted to the use of drugs. 

The physician stated that upon his visits he inspects the cells to 
ascertain their sanitary condition, but that at no time has he made any 
recommendation concerning them. 

It is difficult to understand how a practicing physician could have 
inspected the cells of this prison, which were found upon examination 
to be infested with vermin, water bugs and roaches to such an extent 
as to render them unfit for habitation, without directing the attention 
of the proper officials to this condition and insisting upon its being 
remedied. 

The majority of the cases attended by the physician in the jail 
are persons committed there as “sick nuisances”. By “sick nuisance" 
is usually meant a person not a resident of the city of Norfolk who 
is ill, incapacitated, homeless -and unable to secure employment or 
medical treatment. While there is no such statutory offense and little 
or no law for the procedure followed in the incarceration of persons 
guilty of no offense but sickness and poverty this procedure is ac¬ 
counted for by the officials on the ground that there is no other place 
to which they may send a sick person except the city home. The of¬ 
ficials are not in agreement as to the propriety or the legality of send¬ 
ing such cases to the city home, alleging that the city home is intend¬ 
ed for residents of the city only, but, occasionally, non-residents are 
sent to the city home. In the absence of a hospital to which such per¬ 
sons may be sent for treatment, the judge, co-operating with the police 
department on the ground that something must be done to aid them, 
commits them to the city prison as “sick nuisances” and directs that 
they be given medical attention by the jail physician. In such cases 
no sentence is imposed, and when they are cured or in condition to 
work, they are discharged upon the order of the city physician. 

Waiving the injustice involved in this procedure, it is questioned 
whether the plan is economical, since the city sergeant receives fifty 
cents as an admission fee for each case and thirty-five cents a day for 
board. 

That a plan be provided for the care of homeless sick persons, 
whether resident or non-resident, is recommended, and this plan pro¬ 
vide a procedure which will not result in committing an unfortunate 
sick man or woman to a jail as a sick nuisance is suggested. This 
procedure will be found discussed further in the section of this survey 
report relating to the commissioner of health. 

It is recommended that the health of the prisoners be cared for 
by the health officers and ‘that one of the physicians on the staff of 
the health commissioner be designated as the jail physician and that 
he make regular daily visits to the jail. It is further recommended 


CITY SERGEANT 


267 


that no prisoner be admitted until he has been thoroughly examined 
by the officer to ascertain whether or not he is infected with a con¬ 
tagious or infectious disease. To do this, it will be necessary for the 
sergeant of the jail, before assigning the new prisoners to cells, to 
have them all detained temporarily in one room and there await ex¬ 
amination by the physician. This is suggested so that it will not be 
necessary for the physician to make several calls every morning. It is 
also suggested that the physician maintain records of his visits and that 
such visits as are made to federal prisoners be charged for in the 
same manner as at present, but that the money received in payment be 
turned into the city treasury. 

Prisoners Should Not Be Permitted to Retain 
Money or Valuables While In Jail 

When prisioners are searched upon admission only pocket-knives 
or such other instruments as might be used to effect an escape or do 
injury are taken from them. They are permitted to keep 'money, 
jewelry and other valuables unless they request that the same be cared 
for by the warden or city sergeant. This is not in accordance with 
good practice, since all property of prisoners should be taken from 
them at the time of admission and retained by the warden until their 
discharge. Moreover, prisoners committed to the jail upon conviction 
not only should have no need for money, but should not be permitted 
to draw money which has been deposited with the warden. Their 
food and clothing should be provided by the jail and the use of money 
can only serve to purchase special privileges which should not be per¬ 
mitted within a properly conducted prison. This, however, should not 
apply to prisoners detained pending a hearing or trial. These prisoners 
should be permitted to draw upon such moneys as may have been de¬ 
posited with the warden for such purposes as they choose so long as, 
through careful supervision, care is taken to prevent this money from 
being used for bribing keepers to obtain special privileges. 

Prisoners Sentenced to Death Should Not 
Be Confined In City Jail 

Pursuant to statute, prisoners sentenced to death upon conviction 
of capital punishment crimes must be remanaded to the city prison and 
there detained for a definite period prior to their conviction. In case 
an appeal is filed they are detained there until after a hearing of the 
appeal and then for fifteen days prior to their execution. 

This procedure is wrong because no person convicted of a serious 
crime should be detained in the city prison and because of the in¬ 
adequacy of this jail, which has no provision whatever for the proper 
treatment and handling of a prisoner sentenced to death. This law 
should be amended at once so as to provide that all persons sentenced 
to death should be sent as speedily as possible to the institution in 
which the execution is to take place. Of course, it is wholly proper 
that the court have the right to commit to the city prison such persons 
for a period of a few days after their conviction, for purposes of 
allowing conferences with their counsel and their families and the ad¬ 
justment of their business, but certainly not for any extended period, 
such as at present. 


268 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


There is at present a prisoner sentenced to death whose case is 
being appealed and who has been confined in the city prison for a con¬ 
siderable time. This prisoner is continuously kept in his cell and is 
denied any of the privileges to which a convicted man is rightfully 
entitled. 

Jail In Charge of One Watchman at Night 

The day jailors work from 7 A. M. to 6 P. M., when they are 
relieved by a night watchman. This watchman, who is an old man 
is in complete charge of the jail from 6 P. M. to 7 A. M. He is 
supposed to make regular rounds of the jail during the night, but 
there is no watchman’s detector system installed and, consequently, no 
check upon this watchman as to whether he makes rounds or not. 
Moreover, except for a telephone in the office, he has no means of com- 
municating promptly with the police in case he is attacked. 

The one watchman in charge of this jail during the night can give 
little protection against a jail delivery or against fire. 

It is therefore recommended that additional keepers be employed 
for night duty and that a watchman’s detector system be installed for 
purposes of checking the work of the night watchman. 

A buzzer connected with police headquarters, located just next 
door, should be installed. This would call the police whenever they 
were needed. 

Records and Reports 

The records of the jail are not in accordance with the most im¬ 
proved record and reporting system. The principal record is a bound 
book which is termed a record of prisoners, in which enteries are 
made under printed headings calling for the date of the conviction, the 
name of prisoner, offense, by whom committed, when discharged, 
color, and sentence. No fingerprints are taken, no card record of 
prisoners with a complete history of the prisoners is maintained and 
no daily bulletin of the census is provided. The financial records of 
the jail are informally kept, since they are not public records but are 
the private property of the city sergeant. The only financial records 
maintained in accordance with statute are the records relating to the 
fees charged the state and the city. 

The installation of a proper accounting system is recommended. 
It is also recommended that fingerprints be taken of all prisoners com¬ 
mitted to the jail and that prisoners convicted of felonies be photo¬ 
graphed and their Bertillon measurements recorded. 


HIGH CONSTABLE 


269 


HIGH CONSTABLE 




HIGH CONSTABLE 


271 


HIGH CONSTABLE 

The high constable is appointed by council to serve for a term of 
two years. His functions are to serve all process of the civil justice 
court. He receives no salary but is permitted to charge fees, all of 
which are set forth in the statutes. He employs two deputies who 
report and are directly responsible to him. The records of this office 
are complete, detailed and well-maintained. 





COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY 


273 


COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY 


( 18 ) 






COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY 


275 


COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY 

1 he commonwealth attorney, who is the prosecuting- officer of the 
city of Norfolk, is elected by the people for a term of four years. He 
receives a salary of $1,500 from the city of Norfolk and fees from the 
state for the prosecution of violations of the criminal statutes. Of 
the fees collected in connection with the prosecution of violations of 
the criminal statutes, the state allows to the prosecutor a maximum 
of $1,750 per year. In addition to these fees the commonwealth at¬ 
torney is allowed separate fees for the prosecution of appeals and 
for the execution of forfeiture of bail bonds, which amount to an 
average of $50 per month. The fees are fixed by statute. 

His functions include the presentation of cases to the grand jury, 
the prosecution of all defendants indicted, the prosecution of appeals, 
suits for the collection of forfeited bail bonds and such other duties as are 
commonly assigned to county prosecuting attorneys. 

Fee System Should Be Abolished 

The abolition of the fee system is recommended in the interest 
of good practice and efficiency, first, because no public officer should 
he dependent for compensation for faithful service upon fees, and, 
second, because the fee system usually results, as the business of the 
officer increases, in compensation out of all proportion to the services 
rendered. 

The fee system has long since been condemned in most pro¬ 
gressive communities as against public policy. As a result, in these 
places, city and county officials are now retained upon a salary basis 
and any fees collected are paid into the public treasury. 

Therefore, amendment of the statutes so as to provide for the 
payment of an annual salary instead of fees to the commonwealth at¬ 
torney is recommended. 

Prosecuting Attorney Should Be Prohibited from Engaging in 
Private Practice 

While the business of the corporation court consumes the greater 
part of the commonwealth attorney's time in connection with grand 
jury and court work, nevertheless he is permitted by law to engage in 
private practice and avails himself of the privilege. Not only does he 
practice civil law in the city of Norfolk, but he even engages in 
criminal practice in jurisdictions adjacent to Norfolk. 

Although a recent statute limits the amount of state fees to he 
allowed to the commonwealth attorney to $1750 annually, he receives 
an average of approximately $4000 per year. This amount should be 
sufficient to secure the services of a commonwealth attorney who 
would devote his entire time to the duties of his office and refrain 
from engaging in private practice during his term. 

Without in any way intimating or inferring that the present in¬ 
cumbent is not rendering competent service, it is nevertheless pointed 
out that the best interests of the community demand, because of the 
verv nature of the duties of the commonwealth attorney, that he shall 


276 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


during- his term of office be absolutely free from any alliances which 
would at any time serve to embarrass him or to reduce his efficiency 
as a presecuting officer. 

Therefore, it is recommended that the statutes be amended so as 
to prohibit the commonwealth attorney from engaging in private prac¬ 
tice. 

Appointment of an Assistant Prosecutor Recommended 

The appointment of an assistant commonwealth attorney who 
would be present at all of the sessions of the police court would not 
only assist the police officers in the presentation of their cases but 
would greatly facilitate the work of the commonwealth attorney. It 
would enable the assistant prosecutor to conduct an examination at 
the very beginning of a case, and so facilitate the preparation of the 
case for the grand jury. Moreover, it would tend to reduce the number 
of cases being held for the grand jury which could be disposed of 
in the police court. Therefore, it is recommended that provision be 
made for the appointment of an assistant to the commonwealth attorney. 

Presecuting Officials Should Be Notified Promptly in 
Murder Cases 

Nothing could be more helpful in the investigation of murder 
cases than the prompt advice and assistance of the prosecuting officials. 
Therefore, it is recommended that the commonwealth attorney and the 
chief of police adopt a procedure in the police department which will 
provide for the prompt notification of the prosecuting officials upon 
receipt of a report of the commission of a murder. The common¬ 
wealth attorney or his assistant should go immediately with the police 
to the scene of the crime and advise the detectives as to the course 
to be pursued in the examination of witnesses, the collection and pres¬ 
ervation of evidence, an indicate the persons who should be detain¬ 
ed pending an investigation. The prosecuting officials should have a 
part in the investigation from the very beginning and the police, in 
obtaining evidence, should be guided absolutely and solelv bv the prose¬ 
cuting officials. 

As a result of such co-operation, the prosecuting attorneys, who 
will be kept in close contact with the investigation, should he able 
to develop evidence which will greatly facilitate the prosecution of 
the case. 

An Office Should Be Provided for the Commonwealth Attorney 

The city does not provide the commonwealth attorney with an 
office. He is obliged to meet and interview witnesses in his private 
office. A properly equipped office should be provided by the city for 
the commonwealth attorney and his assistant. 

Statutes Should Require the Commonwealth Attorney to File 
Annual Report 

The commonwealth attorney is not required to maintain any records 
or to make any formal reports of his work. While he does main¬ 
tain an informal record of his cases for his own guidance it is not 


COMMONWEALTH ATTORNEY 


277 


an official or a permanent record. It is therefore recommended that 
the commonwealth attorney install a case record which shall be a public 
record and shall contain complete and detailed information concerning 
every case handled by his office. It is recommended that the law be 
amended so as to require that he file with the judge of the corporation 
court an annual report accurately describing all of the business trans¬ 
acted by him during the year. The report should be filed in such a 
manner as to be not only of administrative value, but of statistical and 
historical value as well. 



OFFICE OF CORONER 


279 


CORONER 



OFFICE OF CORONER 


281 


THE OFFICE OF CORONER 

Present Tendency Toward Abolition of the Office of Coroner 

Although a study of the coroner's office in Norfolk is perhaps 
outside of the scope of this survey, it is believed that thorough con¬ 
sideration should be given to this office in any plan for the reorganiza¬ 
tion of the local government. Accordingly, a brief study was made 
of the procedure in the coroner’s office with a view to determining 
whether or not a change in procedure is justified. 

The coroner in Norfolk stands in the same relation to the legal 
functions of government as in many other cities and states. That is 
to say, he conducts investigations of the causes of death and sits as 
a magistrate in the coroner’s court where evidence relative to facts of 
death is presented for the consideration of a coroner’s jury. If this 
court finds evidence of any criminal act, the matter is of course re¬ 
ferred to the commonwealth's attorney for prosecution. The common¬ 
wealth's attorney must, therefore, make still further investigation. In 
fact, he must duplicate all of the work that has been done by the 
coroner. He must examine the same witnesses and he must make again 
all of the investigations that have previously been made by the coroner. 
This has resulted in many communities in loss of time in properly 
ascertaining the facts regarding death and also in friction between the 
coronor’s office and the office of the public prosecutor. Although the 
coroner in Norfolk states that there is perfect harmony between his 
office and that of the public prosecutor, yet he admits that duplication 
in the investigation of cases exists, and also that because lie is a physi¬ 
cian and not trained in the law lie finds considerable difficulty in con¬ 
ducting the coroner’s court. 

For these reasons and also because of the fact that the adminis¬ 
tration of this office under the old coroner’s system has so frequently 
resulted in misuses and improper practices of all kinds, there has been 
a growing tendency throughout the country for several years toward 
the abolition of the coroner’s office. In 1877, Massachusetts abolished 
the office of coroner and substituted the medical examiner’s system. 
The states of Michigan, Connecticut, and Rhode Island have since fol¬ 
lowed Massachusetts’ lead. In New Mexico, New Hampshire and Wash¬ 
ington the old coroner’s system has been abolished and the duties of 
the coroner delegated either to officers of the legal branch of govern¬ 
ment or to specially graduated medical officers. In Erie County, New 
York State, the coroner’s system has been abolished, and with respect 
to New' York City a bill has been passed in the legislature which 
provides for the abolition of coronors there, and the appointment by 
the mayor of a chief medical examiner and deputies. The duties of 
the medical examiners as specified in the act are to conduct the medical 
examinations necessary, including all chemical, pathological and bac¬ 
teriological tests, and to make complete and detailed reports of their 
findings to the district attorney. In this way the medical examiner 
is responsible onlv for the medical aspects of the case. 

The Medical Examiner Recommended in Norfolk 

It is believed that some such plan should be adopted in Norfolk 
in place of the coroner and the coroner’s court with all its attendant 


282 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


evils. A medical examiner should be appointed either by the corpora¬ 
tion court as at present, or by the commonwealth attorney, or the 
head of the municipal government. This medical examiner should be 
a thoroughly competent physician with training and experience in 
chemical, pathological and bacteriological work, as well as experience 
in performing autopsies. He should be required to make complete and 
detailed reports of every examination and if, in his opinion, the facts 
warrant criminal proceedings he should turn these records over to the 
commonwealth’s attorney. It is doubtful that this work would require 
the full time of one man. The present method of employing two physic¬ 
ians on part time might be advisable. Under any circumstances, how¬ 
ever, we believe that the medical officer, whatever his title, compensation 
or time requirements, should not be required to pass on the legal phases 
of the matter, and it is therefore recommended that effort be made to 
revise the present statutory provision regarding the office of coroner 
and that such revision be directed toward the abolition of the office of 
coroner and the substitution of a medical officer whose duties will 
be distinctly and solelv the medical investigation of deaths. 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


283 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 





FIRE DEPARTMENT 


285 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 

Fire Department Under Control of Two Administrative Heads 

The fire department is organized as an administrative branch of 
the city government, and is under the supervision of the board of con¬ 
trol and the mayor. 

For purposes of administration, one member of the board of con¬ 
trol is designated as chairman of the fire committee and assumes re¬ 
sponsibility for the direct management of the department. Thus, as 
in the police department, the fire-fighting force is under the control 
of two administrative heads. However, the mayor seldom exercises 
any administrative functions with! regard to this department. The 
chairman of the fire committee of the board of control, while empower¬ 
ed to direct and manage the affairs of the department, nevertheless 
must submit to the board of control, for its consideration and vote, 
all matters of importance. 

To provide for an economical and efficient administration, it is 
essential that there be but one head, namely, the centralized executive 
referred to in the chapter of this report discussing the charter. This 
centralized executive should have adequate power to manage the affairs 
of the fire department without interference or hindrance. 

Board of Control Lacks Information Concerning Operations 
of the Department 

The proper administration of the fire department in the exercise of 
its functions demands that those who are held responsible for the 
administration have before them currently and in concise tabulated 
form information concerning the prevention of and methods of ex¬ 
tinguishing fires. 

The administrative heads are by law required to direct, advise 
and manage the employees of this department, but they do not re¬ 
ceive from the chief or his subordinate officers information which 
would enable them intelligently to direct, advise and manage this most 
important department. 

As to the activities of the department with relation to fire pre¬ 
vention, the board does not know and could not at any time, with¬ 
out considerable analysis of the records, learn the number of inspec¬ 
tions made, the character of the buildings inspected, the results of the 
inspections, the orders issued and the success or failure of the depart¬ 
ment in securing compliance therewith. The only formal report the 
board receives concerning the fire prevention work of the department 
is a monthly report of the inspections made by the first assistant chief, 
who is detailed to this work. This record, being incomplete and im¬ 
properly prepared and representing the inspections by only one member 
of the force, is of little or no value in determining the efficiency of the 
fire department in the matter of fire prevention inspection. 

As to fire extinguishment, the board receives no formal reports 
which would enable it to determine whether the number of fires 
occurring during the current period is greater or less than the number 


286 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


during the same period of previous years, or whether the success of 
the department in the extinguishment of fire has been greater or less 
than in former periods. 

Each morning, however, the chief reports in person to the admin¬ 
istrative heads. At this daily conference, he discusses current busi¬ 
ness of the fire department. Me also furnishes the hoard and council 
with an annual report. 

With the installation of a proper reporting system, such as will 
be fully described in another section of this report, the daily confer¬ 
ence between the chief and the administrative heads should be dis¬ 
continued. Much of the chief’s time each morning is used up at these 
conferences or in waiting for an opportunity to interview the administra¬ 
tive heads. 

The chief must always be in readiness to respond to an alarm 
and, because of this, he should not be required to leave his quarters 
for conference and the like except when his presence is absolutely neces¬ 
sary. 

Supplies Purchased by the Board Without the Use of 
Standard Specifications 

The methods employed in making purchases are discussed in that 
part of this survey report relating to purchasing methods. 

Daily and Monthly Reports Should Be Required 

For purposes of keeping the administrative heads currently ad¬ 
vised of the activities of the fire department, both as to fire prevention 
and fire extinguishment work, it is essential that the chief be required 
to file a daily report giving detailed information concerning the opera¬ 
tions of the department. In addition to this daily report coverning the 
general activities of the force, the administrative heads should receive 
a separate fire service report upon every alarm. Each month, the chief 
should furnish the administrative heads with a monthly consolidated 
report indicating, upon a comparative basis, the losses, runs and the 
cost of operation. 

The daily report should be prepared from information contained 
in the individual company daily reports, while the monthly report 
should be a recapitulation of the daily consolidated report. 

Chief the Executive Head 

The executive head of the department is the chief. The present 
incumbent was promoted to the office of chief after having served 
in the various subordinate ranks of the service for sixteen years. He 
has been chief of the department since 1908. His supervision of the 
force is good and he exercises proper control over the members of 
the force, maintaining proper discipline. 

Chief Not Protected by Civil Service 

The chief is elected by the city council upon the nomination of the 
board of control. The statute fixes his term of office at two years. 
While the present chief was selected from among the members of the 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


287 


force, there is nothing in the charter which makes it incumbent upon 
the board of control to select the chief from among the uniformed fire¬ 
men. 

\\ liile the charter protects the chief from arbitrary removal dur¬ 
ing his two-year term, requiring as it does that he be given a hear¬ 
ing as the result of charges, and that he shall have the right to ap¬ 
peal to the city council, nevertheless, it makes his position subject to 
the whim of the members of council at the end of his two years of 
service. 

Under the present charter, because the chief’s re-election at the 
end of each two years is dependent solely upon the good will of the 
members of council, the position is retained in the class of political 
patronage. It is not suggested nor even inferred that the present in¬ 
cumbent makes his appointments, promotions, transfers or details as 
the result of political interference, but it is only fair to assume, since 
the chief must retain the good will and favor of the members of the 
council, that there is always the temptation to listen to a suggestion or 
an argument from members of council concerning appointments, trans¬ 
fers and details. Moreover, the firemen who are under his command 
are selected through competitive civil service tests and enjoy the pro¬ 
tection against arbitrary removal which the law seeks to give civil 
service employees. This protection, under the present law, is denied to 
the highest officer of the uniformed force. 

Efficiency in fire-fighting and in the control and development of 
the fire-fighting force demands scientific training and continuous train¬ 
ing and supervision. It demands absolute freedom from political inter¬ 
ference and it demands a kind of courage in the maintenance of dis¬ 
cipline such as an officer who is subject to arbitrary removal for political 
reasons can scarcely display. The art of fire extinguishment requires 
that the fire-fiighting force shall be properly trained, properly equipped 
and properly governed. The training, distributing, equipping and 
governing of the fire force require techinal knowledge, practical ex¬ 
perience, and executive ability, which cannot be acquired outside of 
the force and except by years of training in the ranks; and the ex¬ 
ercise of these functions must be governed solely by the needs of the 
community and existing conditions without political suggestion or ad¬ 
vice. 

Therefore, it is recommended that the provision of the charter be 
amended so as to provide for the appointment of the chief of the de¬ 
partment as the result of a competitive, promotional civil service test, 
and that he be given the protection afforded all civil service employees, 
in that he may not be removed from office except after a hearing upon 
charges of misconduct or inefficiency. In a word, he should be given 
protection equal to that of his subordinates whom he is required to 
govern. 

Information in Chief’s Office Not Properly Compiled 

While the chief’s office receives in the form of reports from the 
subordinate officers current information concerning the activities of the 
force, with the exception of the record of fires, this information is not 


288 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


compiled or filed in such a manner as to facilitate the exercise of proper 
control. 

The chief is essentially a technical man. He enters the service as 
a fireman, coming from the ordinary walks of life. His education and 
training within the department are practically confined to the mechani¬ 
cal handling of apparatus and extinguishment of fires. Consequently, it 
is not remarkable that the department is without approved system of 
reporting and recording the activities of the force, since the chief has 
received little or no aid from the administrative heads. 

It is, therefore, recommended that the administrative heads pro¬ 
vide the department with a proper system of recording and reporting 
its operations so that not only will the chief be currently and intelli¬ 
gently advised as to the actions of his subordinates, but the conditions 
as to fire prevention and the operations of the force in fire extinguish¬ 
ment will be reported upon and recorded. These reports should he 
recorded in such a manner as to enable speedy review and the compila¬ 
tion of statistics necessary as an aid to proper administration and good 
control. Such a system is outlined in the section of this report head¬ 
ed “Records and Reports”. It is urged that the administrative heads 
provide for the installation of these records under proper supervision. 

Assistant Chiefs’ Records Incomplete 

There are two assistant chiefs—one devoting his entire time to fire 
prevention inspections and the second being assigned in charge/ of 
a district. Neither of these assistant chiefs maintains proper records. 
The records maintained by the first assistant chief will be discussed in 
that section of this report upon fire prevention. No definite procedure 
is provided requiring the second assistant chief to maintain records. 
Such records as he does maintain are informal and not required by 
the rules. The second assistant chief should be held strictly re¬ 
sponsible for the discipline maintained among members of his 
command, and should keep at his office proper records concerning the 
activities of the companies within the district. These records should in¬ 
clude among others: 

1— Card records of the personnel 

2— Detailed and complete description of all build¬ 

ings within the district 

3— A record of fire prevention inspections made by 

himself or by the officers in the companies under 
his command, showing orders issued and results 
obtained; a record of the properties of the depart¬ 
ment for the care of which he is responsible with 
the dates of inspection of fire houses and the 
results thereof 

-1—A complete fire sendee record as affecting the 
runs made by the companies in his district and 
copies of the company reports which have been 
forwarded to the chief 

Through the use of these records, the assistant chief should secure 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


289 


not only an intimate knowledge of the personnel of his command and 
the service rendered by it, hut likewise of the buildings within the dis¬ 
trict to which he may be called for the extinguishment of fire. 

All reports from companies or company officers should be trans¬ 
mitted through the assistant chief, who, after review, should be required 
to indicate tbereon approval or disapproval. 

Captains Make Fire Prevention Inspections 

The force is divided into twelve companies. To each of nine of 
these companies, there is assigned a captain; the three remaining com¬ 
panies are combined so as to provide for all companies being under the 
command of captains. 

These captains are in command of their companies, respond to 
alarms with them, maintain discipline at the stations, provide the records 
kept at the fire houses and make fire prevention inspections. 

While some of the captains keep a record of all premises inspect¬ 
ed by them, all of them do not maintain such records and none records 
complete information concerning the buildings which have been in¬ 
spected. In most instances, the captains merely record the address and 
date of inspection. That these records are not adequate, and that the 
captains do not record detailed information concerning their inspec¬ 
tions, is due to the fact that the rules do not require such records 
and that no standard inspection blanks are furnished to cover all build¬ 
ings. The rules should provide that captains and all other members 
of the department making fire prevention inspections file a detailed re¬ 
port of all premises inspected upon specially provided inspection blanks, 
copies of which reports should be kept at the fire station and at the 
offices of the assistant chief and chief of the department. The form 
used for making these reports should be a card record and they should 
be filed bv street location. 

In some of the stations, it was observed that the discipline main¬ 
tained by the captains was not up to the standard. 

Before being promoted to the rank of captain, a man should have 
long and varied experience in the service. Such varied experience 
could do much to increase the efficiency of the service if part of the 
time were devoted to the instruction of subordinates. 

It is recommended that, in addition to the regular course of in¬ 
struction furnished the firemen, which is fully described elsewhere in 
this report, captains be required to lecture to the firemen of their com¬ 
panies upon the important risks and large hazards and to examine 
the firemen from time to time as to their knowledge of their duties. 
The firemen should be required by the captains to visit large buildings 
in their districts to determine the methods which should be employed 
in the event of fire and familiarize themselves with the location of 
sprinkler connections, shut-offs, hatch-ways, weights upon floors, electric 
switches, gas connections and all other matters which would be of as¬ 
sistance in the extinguishment of fire. After these inspections, the 
captains should examine the firemen to determine the intelligence dis¬ 
played bv them in their inspections and study. 


( 19 ) 


290 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Number of Captains Adequate 

By combining companies under the command of one captain, the 
chief shows a proper regard for economy and is acting in accordance 
with the best practice. The number of captains is adequate. 

Engineers Should Be Entitled to Promotion 

For the operation and maintenance of steamers, seven engineers 
and six assistant engineers are employed, all of whom are licensed. The 
engineers and assistant engineers are appointed through competitive 
civil service tests from without the force and they are of the same rank 
and receive the same pay as captains. 

This procedure is not in accordance with good practice. Because 
of the comparatively few offices in the fire department, the number of 
promotional opportunities are somewhat reduced. There is no better 
incentive for faithful and diligent service that a department can offer 
its members than promotional opportunity. 

The steamer is perhaps the most important piece of apparatus in the 
fire department, because upon its efficiency and the intelligence of 
its operator depends, in a large part, the success of the force in fire 
extinguishment. Consequently, just as all firemen should he able to 
handle a length of hose, climb a ladder, operate aerial ladders, guide a 
truck with the tiller, drive a team of horses or a piece of apparatus, so 
also should they be trained in the operation and care of the steamer. 

The engineers of steamers should he selected from the uniformed 
force. It should he possible to become an engineer only through a 
competitive, civil service, promotional test after service as an assistant 
engineer. • 

The salary of the assistant engineer should he slightly in advance 
of the salary paid to the fireman, while the salary paid to engineers 
should he the same as that of lieutenants. As an incentive for the 
engineer to become especially efficient by constant study and faithful 
service, it should he possible for him to enter promotional examinations 
for the rank of lieutenant and subsequently all other promotional tests, 
such as for captain, assistant chief, and chief, etc. Through this pro¬ 
cess, two additional promotional steps are offered to the firemen, 
namely, assistant engineer and engineer, while reward for faithful 
service is offered to the engineers by providing a method whereby they 
too may he promoted to the higher ranks within the department. 

It is also recommended that the operation and care of the steamer 
be made a part of the training of every fireman so that at no time 
will the department he wholly dependent upon the regularly assigned 
engineer and assistant engineer. 

Appointments 

All members of the fire department are appointed from civil service 
eligible lists, which are prepared as the result of competitive civil serv¬ 
ice examinations. Appointments are made by the chief subject to the 
approval of the hoard of control. 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


291 


The same comments and recommendations with respect to the 
civil service requirments as affecting the appointment of policemen 
apply to the appointment of firemen. (See chapter on “Police”). 

Department Not Adequately Protected Against Physically 
Unfit Being Admitted to Fire Department 

The procedure followed in the physical examination of applicants 
to the fire department is identical with that followed by applicants to 
the police department. The same criticisms and recommendations as 
affecting the physical examination of applicants for appointment to the 
police department apply to the firemen. (See chapter on “Police”). 

Age Requirements Should Be Changed 

Under the present civil service rules and regulations, the minimum 
age for appointment is fixed at twenty-one years and the maximum at 
forty-five for engineers and forty for other members of the department. 

It is desirable to secure young men for the fire depatrement because 
they respond more readily to training, and the department receives 
a longer period of service from them. It is, therefore, recommended 
that the maximum appointment age be changed to thirty years. This is 
further urged as a protection to a pension fund should the city create 
one in the future. 

Probationary Period Should Be Established 

It is recommended that the civil service rules be amended so as 
to establish a regular probationary period of six months which should 
begin upon the date of.final appointment. 

Captains should be required to report in writing upon the efficiency 
of the recruit, and the probationary period should be used to test the 
recruit’s fitness for fire service. Substitutes should be selected as at 
present from the civil service eligible list, but their time of service 
as substitutes, while given consideration by the administrative head 
in giving them preference at time of appointment over those on the list 
not having served as substitutes, should not, however, be regarded as 
probationary service. 

Method of Training Firemen 

The training school of instruction is operated under the supervision 
of a lieutenant. The lietenant in charge attended the New York fire 
college and there received instruction in fire duties and the methods 
employed in training firemen. Upon examination, this lieutenant 
showed a competent knowledge of the duties of a fireman and the 
methods employed by him in the instructing of the tire force are in 
accordance with the best practices. 

In connection with the school, there is operated a well-equipped 
training tower. The instruction, however, is confined to the months 
of April, May and June for the regular force, and recruits are required 
to attend school for thirty days. The instruction consists principally 
in the use of apparatus and equipment. While the present method of 
training the men is progressive and more efficient than the systems 


292 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


employed in most cities of the size of Norfolk, yet it can be greatly 
improved upon. It is, therefore, recommended that the instruction 
at the school be revised so as to include lectures in addition to the 
practical instruction given. This course should include lectures and 
instructions upon: 

1— Administration 

a—Discipline (respect for authority) 
b—Records and reports 
c—Responsibility for city property 
d—Rules and regulations 

2 — Science of fire extinguishment 

a—General fire-fighting 
b—Care of apparatus and equipment 
c—Auxiliary fire appliances 
d—Sprinkler system and stand pipes 
e—The conservation of properties and burning build¬ 
ings 

f—Water pressure systems 
g—First aid to the injured 

3—Fire prevention 

a—The fire prevention laws and ordinances 
b—Methods of conducting and reporting upon fire 
prevention inspection 
c—Combustibles and explosives 

d—The duties of firemen at theatres and public as¬ 
semblages 

Lectures Should Be Conducted at Company Quarters 

Inclement weather should not serve to prevent the instruction of 
firemen. The lieutenant in charge of the school should be required to 
visit the various company quarters and instruct the men, through 
lectures and practical demonstrations, in the handling of minor equip¬ 
ment. 

Written Tests Should Be Held 

Text books upon these subjects should be furnished to the firemen 
and written tests held in order to determine the familiarity of the fire¬ 
men with their duties. 

Force At Present Fairly Well Trained 

By these recommendations it is not meant to imply that the 
members of the force are not at present receiving instructions or 
that they are inefficient, but rather to increase their efficiency and 
provide for their scientific instruction. Such a plan would also pro¬ 
vide for utilizing, in the interest of the development of the men and the 
department, the many idle hours of time of the firemen. 

Men Should Be Transferred Frequently 

As a further aid to providing thorough instruction for the men, it is 
recommended that provision be made for the changing of assignments 
so as to give the firemen active service in all parts of the city. The chief 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


293 


should reassign his force from time to time in order that all of the 
firemen may perform service in all branches of the service and under all 
commanding officers. 

Under the present system, all firemen assigned to a subordinate 
station may remain in the service for many years without having an 
opportunity to perform actual fire service in the congested district. 
Thus, if he were transferred after a few years of service to a station 
in the downtown section, it would almost be necessary to give him the 
same training as if he had just entered the service. Likewise, a fireman 
assigned to a hose company could go through the service without ever 
having performed duty with a ladder company. This condition should 
not prevail, as, in the interest of efficiency, firemen should be given as 
broad a training as possible. 

Setting Up Exercises Should be Conducted 

Because of the lack of exercise in the districts where the runs are 
few, and this applies to practically all of Norfolk’s fire districts, it is 
recommended, in order that the physical condition of the men be kept 
up to standard, that the rules provide that captains or lietenants conduct 
exercises each morning similar to those used in the United States army. 
These exercises should be conducted on the apparatus floor and occupy 
not less than thirty minutes. 

Promotions 

l 

Promotions are made in the fire department by^the chief with the 
approval of the board of control in the same manner as promotions are 
made in the police department. The criticisms and recommendations 
afifecting the police department apply to the methods employed in the 
fire department. Nothing can be more conducive to lack of enthusiasm 
and interest in fire work than the absence of “civil service” as applied to 
promotions. (See chapter on “Police”). 

Efficiency Ratings Should be Given 

The efficiency of the service rendered by the firemen should be 
given every consideration in promotional tests through the use of 
efficiency ratings. Many a fireman whose efficiency in practical work 
is far below the standard is well informed in the theory of fire-fighting. 
On the other hand, many thoroughly practical fireman who are capable 
of rendering valuable service, and whose ability as fire-fighters exceeds 
that of the well-informed theoretical fireman, are not capable of record¬ 
ing their knowledge in written tests. 

With the use of proper efficiency records, the efficient practical 
fireman would be able to earn a rating which would aid him in promo¬ 
tional test and relieve him of his present handicap. Thus, the practical 
test combined with efficiency rating should secure better equipped 
commanding officers. An efficiency record would also provide com¬ 
manding officers with an instrument for maintaining better discipline at 
the fire stations, since it would provide a method of disciplining mem¬ 
bers of their commands for delinquencies not sufficiently serious to 
warrant formal charges. It should also be used as a guide in the as¬ 
signing of men to special duties. 


294 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Medals for Bravery Should Be Awarded 

Firemen who perform distinguished acts of bravery are not given 
departmental recognition. Provision should be made for awarding de¬ 
partmental medals for bravery. The procedure should be the same 
in the fire department as is recommended for use in the police depart¬ 
ment. (See chapter on “Police”). 

Fire Alarm and Telegraph Division 

The fire alarm and telegraph division is under the supervision 
of the superintendent of electrical afifairs. This division is efficiently 
managed and its equipment is good. This branch of the service will 
be found discussed in the section of the report relating to public 
works functions. 


Sanitary Condition of Fire Houses 

All of the fire houses in the city were visited, carefully inspected 
and the conditions obtaining noted. The houses in most instances 
were found to be clean, orderly and in good repair, and well arranged. 
At such time, however, as the houses may be altered or reconstructed, 
more adequate toilet facilities should be provided. All fire houses 
should have at least one toilet on the same floor with the apparatus. 
The quarters occupied by Engine Company No. 5 should be provided 
at once with additional toilet facilities. 

Surgeons 

In the report of the police department will be found recommenda¬ 
tions in regard to the health and medical care of the members of the 
fire department. 

It may be said here, however, that the percentage of illness among 
the members of the fire department, and the time lost due to illness is 
comparatively small—there being only thirty-six cases of illness during 
the year 1914 and twenty-nine during the year 1915 to date. 

Apparatus and Equipment 

While no technical examination of the steamers was conducted, 
all of the apparatus and equipment of the department was observed and 
found to be generally in good condition. The department is adequately 
supplied with engine service. The old-fashioned chemical apparatus 
now in use should be replaced with modern, motor-propelled, combina¬ 
tion chemical and hose wagons. 

Berkley Station in Need of Modern Truck Service 

The fire station at Berkley, upon which that section of the city- 
must depend for service, is equipped with an old-fashioned truck which 
was originally in the volunteer service. It is wholly inadequate. A 
motor-drawn, well-equipped motor truck should be furnished this 
station at once. In considering the needs of Berkley, it must be re¬ 
membered that support cannot be sent from the city proper to Berkley 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


295 


in less time than a half an hour. During the night hours, forty to 
forty-five minutes may be lost in dispatching aid to this company. If 
the equipment of this company included a well-equipped truck, the 
company could care for the ordinary needs of this district. This 
recommendation cannot be urged too strongly because, with the present 
inadequate truck service in Berkley, this section is not being afforded 
proper protection. 

Need for Motor-Propelled Apparatus 

The policy of the present administration is gradually to replace 
all of the horse-drawn apparatus with motor-driven apparatus. This 
should be done as speedily as possible in the interest of efficiency and 
economy. 

Need for Fire Boat 

There is located on the waterfront of Norfolk considerable valuable 
property which cannot be protected adequately by the present engine 
service. Moreover, the waterfront territory of the city is such as to 
make necessary a power boat as a part of the department’s equipment. 
It is, therefore, recommended that the city purchase a small, steel fire 
boat equipped with gasoline engines, with a pumping capacity of not 
less than 7,000 gallons, to carry 1,000 feet of three inch hose. With 
such a boat in the service, second alarms in the downtown section would 
frequently be unnessary. This boat would be invaluable as an aid to 
the company located in Berkley. 

Minor Equipment 

The minor equipment carried on the trucks and hose wagons is 
fairly adequate. 

Apparatus Is Repaired at Department Shop 

The department maintains a repair shop in which most of the 
repairs to apparatus are made. A captain is detailed as master 
mechanic. He is assisted from time to time as the work requires by an 
engineer detailed to the shop. The present procedure with regard to 
repairs is satisfactory. The master mechanic, in addition to making 
ordinary repairs to the apparatus, inspects and supervises the steamers, 
responds to alarms of fire and observes the steamers in use. and ad¬ 
vises and directs the engineer. This is in accordance with good 
practice. 

The records maintained by the master mechanic could be improved 
if a proper unit cost record were installed. This would not involve any 
extra clerical work but merely the use of “job tickets” upon which he 
would show the actual cost of the labor and materials used. 

Horses Well Cared For 

The horses are under the supervision of the city veterinarian. 
They are trained by the drivers. The horses are properly selected and 
cared for as indicated by their generally good condition. They are 
exercised at regular intervals and open stalls of the approved type are 
used for housing them. 


296 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


The records maintained concerning the horses, however, are not 
good, as they do not include a complete history of each horse. It is 
recommended that a card record of the history of the horses be main¬ 
tained and that upon this card be recorded the health record of the 
horses as well. 

Care of Hose 

The procedure for the care of hose may be said to be good. It is 
properly tested and the tests are supervised by commanding officers. 

It would be an economy, however, to have hose towers erected 
at Engine Companies Nos. 4 and 5 where the hose cannot be hung and 
properly dried after cleaning. 

Amount of Hose Used Not Excessive 

That the method of caring for the hose is in accordance with good 
practice is indicated by the fact that the amount of hose purchased 
during the past ten years is not excessive. Condemned hose is sold to 
other city departments—which practice is to be commended. 

It is recommended that a card record of the hose be maintained to 
show a complete history of the hose from the time purchased until 
condemned. 

Uniforms and Equipment 

The uniforms and equipment of the firemen are in accordance with 
the most approved type and the men appear neat and well-uniformed. 
They are required to purchase their uniforms out of their own funds as 
well as part of their equipment, such as fire helmets, rubber coats and 
boots. In order to insure uniform grade and color of the cloth, the 
department issues specifications, setting forth the grade of cloth and the 
manner in which the uniform must be made. The firemen may have the 
uniforms made by any tailor they choose. The initial cost of the 
uniform and equipment of a fireman during his first year is approxi¬ 
mately $81. In view of the salaries paid to the firemen and the con¬ 
ditions under which they are required to work, the uniform and equip¬ 
ment should be supplied by the city without cost. If the city is not 
financially able to defray the expense of the uniforms and equipment 
of the firemen, at least the fire helmets rubber coats and boots should 
be supplied by the city and provisions made for purchasing the uniforms 
and their equipment at the lowest possible cost, the city to pay for 
same and make monthly deductions from the salaries of the firemen. 

Organization and Personnel 

The department of fire is organized as follows: 

For Administration 

Number Title 

1 Mayor. 

(with statutory administrative 
powers) 

3 Members of board of control. 

(administrative heads of all 
city departments) 


Salary 

* 


*Salaries not charged against fire appropriations. 





FIRE DEPARTMENT 


297 


For the Extinguishment of Fire and the 
Enforcement of the Fire Prevention 


Ordinances 

Number • Rank Salary 

1 Chief. $2,400.00 

1 First Assistant Chief. 1,396.50 

1 Second Assistant Chief. 1,296.50 

9 Captains . 1,086.50 

11 Lieutenants. 1,026.50 

13 Engineers .:. 1,086.50 

77 Firemen . 

73 first grade . 996.50 

4 second gr^de . 876.48 

For the Instruction of Firemen 

Number Rank Salary 

1 Instructor .(lieutenant detailed) 

For the Repair of Apparatus 

1 Master mechanic . $1,296.50 


For the Care of Horses 

1 Veterinary surgeon. 

(city veterinarian) . 

For the Maintenance of Records 

1 Clerk.(disabled lieutenant detailed) 

For the Care of Buildings 


8 Matrons. 

5 . $ 270.00 

2 300.00 

1 420.00 

5 Watchmen . 90.00 


As shown by the payrolls, the total number of employees is 127. 
Of this number, 114 are members of the uniformed force and 13civilian 
employees. Of the 114 uniformed firemen, there are detailed to duties, 
other than fire service, 4 members of the force, making the total avail¬ 
able for fire service 110. 

. The department is organized in accordance with the modern plan 
of organization and the supervision exercised over the force bv the 
commanding officers may be said to be good. 

Force Adequate 

The fire-fighting force of the city of Norfolk is sufficiently large to 
meet the needs of the community and the appointment of additional 
men is not recommended. 

Single Platoon System in Operation 

The department is organized under the provision of the single 





















298 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


platoon system which provides for continuous service. The firemen are 
allowed three hours a day for taking meals outside of the fire house 
and one day off in each eight. A fifteen day vacation is allowed each 
year. 

Distribution of the Force and Apparatus 

Force Divided Into Two Battalions 

For purposes of distribution and control, the force is divided into 
two battalions. The battalions are subdivided into engine, ladder and 
chemical companies as follows: 

7 engine companies 
3 ladder companies 
2 chemical companies 

Distribution of Fire Stations Good 

The fire stations are well distributed and sufficient in number to 
meet the needs of the city. The locations of the houses are, for the 
most part, in accordance with the needs. The ladder company support 
is adequate and the ladder service good, with the exception of the 
company located in Berkley where there is need, as already pointed out. 
for improved ladder service. 

Street Car Companies Should Co-Operate 

The street car companies should be requested by council to cooper¬ 
ate with the fire department by the installation of a signal service which 
will provide for red lights along the lines of the trolley system at points 
near fire stations which would light with the gong, indicating to the 
motorman that the apparatus was about to leave the barn. In some 
cities, particularly in Denver, there is provided an electric cut-off which 
operates with the fire alarm gong by shutting off the current in the 
vicinity of the fire house. The cars are thus required to stop and can 
only be started again by the motorman throwing in a switch which is 
placed on one of the poles near the fire house. 

The adoption of an ordinance establishing “fire streets’’ at which all 
cars will be required to stop without signal is recommended. The 
adoption of an ordinance requiring all cars to stop on the near side of 
the street is also recommended. It is suggested that the administrative 
head secure from the commissioner of safety of Denver a description of 
the street car signal system in operation in that city. 

Force Properly Distributed 

The present distribution of the force may be said to be good. 

Appropriation for the Department Adequate 

The appropriations for the maintenance and operation of the fire 
department for past years have been adequate and fairly liberal. Pro¬ 
vision has been made to increase the strength of the force from time to 
time in accordance with the needs and for the improvement of the 
apparatus. 

It is recommended that during the next year provision be made for 
acquiring a fire boat and more motor apparatus. 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


299 


Fire Hydrants Should be Unobstructed 

That automobiles and other vehicles are permitted to stand for 
indefinite periods immediately in front of fire hydrants without objec¬ 
tion on the part of the police was observed. The fire hydrant is a most 
important factor in the work of fire extinguishment. Not only must it 
be free of obstructions at all times, but likewise it must be in workable 
condition. The sergeants and patrolmen should be held strictly 
responsible for the enforcement of the regulation requiring that all 
fire hydrants be kept free of obstruction at all times. Vehicles should 
not be permitted to stand in front of hydrants or so near to them as to 
become an obstruction. 

Co-Operation with Police Department Necessary 

The police department does not render proper assistance to the 
fire department during fires. Not only is there no provision made for 
dispatching additional policemen to maintain fire lines, but the police¬ 
men who do attend make little or no efifort to assist in this direction. 

It is, therefore, recommended that the administrative head direct 
the chief of police to dispatch a patrol wagon and such policemen as 
may be available at headquarters upon every alarm of fire in the con¬ 
gested value district, and upon every second alarm of fire throughout the 
city. For purposes of notifying the police department, arrangements 
should be made for the installation of a fire gong at police headquarters. 
The patrol wagon should also be equipped with sufficient rope for use in 
maintaining a fire line. 

False Alarms Should Be Investigated 

During the fiscal year 1914-1915, there were ninety-nine false 
alarms recorded. The majority of these false alarms are sent by 
children. Of course, it is needless to call attention to the seriousness of 
frequent false alarms, but ninety-nine false alarms in a city the size 
of Norfolk indicates the need for the prompt investigation bv the police 
of every false alarm received. If an investigation were conducted, 
through the detective bureau, in localities from which the greatest 
number of false alarms is dispatched, it should not be difficult to 
discover the cause and punish those responsible. 

Fire Prevention 


The enforcement of the law relative to fire prevention is under 
the jurisdiction of the fire department. The power of the fire depart¬ 
ment to enforce its orders with relation to the removal of rubbish, the 
storage, sale, transportation and manufacture of combustibles and in¬ 
flammables, and the installation of auxiliary fire-fighting appliances is 
wholly inadequate and the ordinances upon these subjects are incom¬ 
plete and insufficient. 

Fire Prevention Inspection Made By Officers 

The first assistant chief is detailed exclusively to fire prevention 
inspection service. Inspections are also made by the captains and 
lieutenants. Schools and large public buildings are made the subject 
of regular inspections, while other buildings are inspected at such 


300 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


times as the captains and lieutenants deem it necessary. As far as 
possible these officers conduct inspections of the large risks within their 
districts monthly, but the value of these inspections is considerably 
reduced since the department does not keep a complete premises record 
for the guidance of the assistant chiefs and captains in fire extinguish¬ 
ment and since dwellings, in which type of building occurs the great¬ 
est number of fires, are not inspected at all. 

Uniformed Firemen Not Used for Inspection Work 

The advantage to all members of a fire department of being 
familiar with the interior of buildings is conceded and it is essential 
that the training of the fireman shall include such knowldege. Never¬ 
theless, the uniformed firemen are not used to make inspections except 
occasioanally when a captain may take a fireman with him to inspect 
some important risk. Therefore, it is recommended that uniformed 
firemen be used to make fire prevention inspections and that all build¬ 
ings within a fire district, regardless of the kind of building or the 
purpose for which it is used, be inspected and reported upon at regular 
intervals. The use of uniformed firemen for these inspections not 
only gives them an opportunity to see the buildings, learn their con¬ 
struction, and become familiar with the location of such conditions 
within them as make them extra hazardous, but also makes possible a 
larger number of inspections each year. The number of firemen in 
the city of Norfolk is sufficient to permit of the use of uniformed firemen 
in inspection work. 

Firemen Detailed to Theaters 

Pursuant to law a fireman is detailed to each theater while the 
theater is occupied by an audience. These firemen are required to 
inspect the house before the preformance begins, and to visit the differ¬ 
ent parts of the theater during the performance. They are not equipped 
with electric torches or lanterns, and in case of fire or accident causing 
the lights to be extinguished these firemen would not be of much service 
to the audience. 

Firemen detailed to theaters should be furnished with electric 
torches or lanterns, and, if lanterns are carried, they should be kept 
lighted during the time the house is occupied. 

The theaters are not required to pay for the services of the firemen. 
The adoption of an ordinance requiring the owners of theaters to pay 
for the services of firemen at such times as they are on duty at the 
theaters is recommended. 

That the firemen had not diligently inspected the theaters to which 
they were detailed was evident by conditions observed in two of the 
theaters inspected at the time of the survey. In one theater immed¬ 
iately under the stage there was stored approximately one ton of news¬ 
papers, while accumulations of rubbish conducive to fire were observed 
in parts of the second theater. 

Each firemen should be required not only to inspect efficiently the 
premises before the beginning of the performance but likewise to make 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


>501 

a complete and detailed report of his inspection. The report now made 
is lacking in detail and not arranged in such a manner as to indicate 
the efficiency of the inspection. 

Moving Picture Operators Are Licensed 

Moving picture machine operators are licensed after an exatnina 
tion conducted by the superintendent of electrical affairs. In connec¬ 
tion with these examinations it is recommended that operators be 
subjected to a practical test, being required to prove their ability to 
handle a moving picture machine, their technical knowledge of its 
mechanism and their familiarity with the safety devices and practices 
necessary. 

In order to prevent the use of these certificates or licenses by 
persons unauthorized, it is recommended that the photograph of the 
licensed operator be placed upon the license and that the ordinance 
require that the license be exposed to public inspection in the booth at 
all times when the machine is being operated. 

Conditions At Moving Picture Shows and 
Theaters Generally Good 

A number of moving-picture show-houses and theaters were visited 
and found to be in genarelly good condition with adequate exit signs, 
aisle space and auxiliary equipment. A number were observed, how¬ 
ever, which had lobbies obstructed with easels containing pictures and 
advertising matter. Many of these easels held large flimsy frames with 
the advertising posters covered with glass. One theater inspected had 
both of its main exits completely obstructed with two very large adver¬ 
tising signs on easels. Another as already stated, had approximately a 
ton of newspapers stored immediately beneath the stage. Another 
had exit lights located in some instances twenty-five or thirty feet from 
the exits which they were supposed to mark. The storage of rubbish 
about the property rooms and under stage was found to be common 
in a number of the theaters. The absence of fire doors on property 
rooms and openings from the stage to other parts of the house was 
noted in the older theaters. 

None of these conditions was noted anywhere upon the records of 
the fire department, although all of these places had been inspected 
recently and reported upon. 

J 

Records and Reports of Fire Prevention Inspections 

Fire prevention inspection form one of the most important duties 
of the fire service, and the information obtained about buildings in the 
city through these inspections should be a matter of careful record. 
The work of the uniformed force in conducting these inspections should 
be the subject of supervision and careful follow-up, and an increase in 
the number of fires in any one neighborhood should always cause the 
chief or the assistant chief to investigate to determine whether inspec¬ 
tions in that neighborhood have decreased in number or in l Ik (rough¬ 
ness. 

For this purpose all inspections should be reported upon specially 
provided printed forms which should be a card record with headings 


302 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


calling for minute detailed information concerning the premises. A 
copy of these cards should be kept at the fire station in which district 
the property is located, at the office of the assistant chief and at the 
office of the chief of the department. They should be filed according 
to location. 

All orders issued, regardless of how unimportant the matter may 
be, should be the subject of a report and this report should note the 
compliance or refusal to comply with the order. Care should be taken 
to cause reinspections of all places where an order has been issued. 

Information Should Be Used for Instruction of Firemen 

The inspection cards retained at the fire station should be used 
for instructing the firemen as to the condition of the buildings located 
within their districts, paying particular attention to the location of 
hatch-ways, elevator shafts, sprinkler shut-offs, electric switches, gas 
and water shut-offs, tanks, standpipe connections, and extra heavy 
weights in the building. 

At least once each week the captains should discuss with their sub¬ 
ordinates some one building within their districts. 

Need for More Efficient Fire Prevention Work 

Althought the conditions throughout the city with regard to fire 
prevention were found to be fairly good, there is need for the adoption 
of a better plan of procedure as to fire prevention inspections and their 
recording and following-up. The present procedure does not provide 
either for a proper supervision of the fire prevention work or a proper 
review of such reports as are made ; nor does the present law in the 
building code, the statutes or the ordinances, provide the chief of the 
department with adequate power to establish rules and regulations 
governing fire prevention matters or to enforce his orders. 

Need for Prompt Revision of the Building Code 

It is needless to point out that the provision of the present so- 
called building code are almost valueless in securing building cons¬ 
truction of a type which will serve to reduce the first hazard. In the 
establishment of the new code, which is now in the course of prepar¬ 
ation. it is recommended that the suggested code of the National Board 
of Fire Underwriters be given careful consideration. 

With respect to that part of the code having to do with the con¬ 
struction of buildings to be used as theaters or places of public as 
semblage, it is urged that the city accept all of the suggestions con¬ 
tained in the corresponding section of the National Board of Fire 
Underwriters. 

The Establishment of a Fire Prevention Commission Recommended 

The adoption of a law creating a fire prevention commission with 
broad powers is recommended. This commission should consist of 
the centralized executive, the superintendent of buildings or building 
inspector. The chief of the fire department and one citizen appointed 
by the mayor to serve without pay. The chief of the fire department 
should be the executive officer of the commission. The commission 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


303 


should have full power to make rules and regulations and to issue 
orders which should have the effect of law. The commission’s power 
should not be confined to certain types of buildings but should cover 
all buildings and conditions within city limits, regardless of what 
state authorities or departments might have similar jurisdiction. 

The protection of life and property is a function of the municipal¬ 
ity and this protection should not be taken from persons working in 
factories or buildings which are subjected to the control and inspection 
of state labor departments. The need for the inspection of dwellings 
is emphasized inasmuch as in most cities of the United States the 
majority of fires occur in residences. Large mercantile establishments 
and institutions which now receive the closest attention of the officers 
of the fire departments are for the most part subjected to frequent 
inspections by other authorities and agencies, such as state department 
officials, the fire underwriters and owners or managers themselves, 
while the residences generally are not subjected to any inspection. 
Owners of large industrial institutions secure the advice of experts 
and usually seek to make their buildings as safe as possible for com 
mercial reasons, if for no other, while the builders of residences, espec¬ 
ially small homes and houses of cheaper construction, have not the 
advantage of this advice. 

Therefore it is urged that the department conduct a house-to-house 
inspection as soon as possible. 

Commission’s Powers Should Be Especially Broad 

It has been found by experience in other cities that it is scarcely 
possible to adopt laws upon fire prevention which will be wholly adequ¬ 
ate in furnishing the protection necessary and at the same time fit all 
conditions found in the city. Therefore, it must be apparent that the 
commission should have adequate power to issue orders in specific 
cases which shall be in keeping with the conditions in each case, and 
that these orders should have the same force and effect as statutes. 

The powers of this commission should include among others the 
right to— 

1— Inspect any building, structure, enclosure, vessel, 

place or premises 

2— Remedy any condition found in violation of any 

law or ordinance with respect to fires or the pre¬ 
vention of fires 

3— Establish rules and regulations with regard to 

fire drills, the storage, sale, manufacture or trans¬ 
portation of explosives and combustibles, and to 
enforce the same under a penalty 

4— Require the installation of automatic fire alarm 

systems; fire-extinguishing equipment, and 
adaquate and safe means of exit 

5— Require to be vacated any building or structure 

which, in its opinion, is inadequately protected 
against fire 


304 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


6— Require a vessel anchored pear any dock to be re¬ 

moved to a place designated by the commission or 
its executive officer, providing the vessel is on 
fire, or in danger of fire, or from the nature of its 
cargo a menace to the shipping property on the 
water front 

7— Require regular and periodic fire drills in factories, 

stores, schools, hospitals and asylums 

8— Declare a building deficient in fire-extinguishing 

equipment or one which by reason of contents or 
overcrowding is perilous to life and property to 
be a nuisance and direct such nuisance to be 
abated 

9— Direct the owner of such property within a reas¬ 

onable time to place his building in a condition 
of safety, and if he fails to do this, to take the 
necessary steps to remove the dangerous con¬ 
ditions 

Records and Reports 

The records and reports of the department of fire can be improved 
without employing additional clerical help and without much added 
cost as to the initial expense of printing and installation. The records 
as at present maintained are a vast improvement over those formerly 
maintained, and indicate a desire on the part of the chief properly to 
record the operation of the department. 

The records and reports of the department should include the 
following: 

1— Daily company morning return. 

2— Consolidated daily return. 

3— Individual company fire service report. 

4— Assistant chief’s fire service reports. 

5— Bursting hose report. 

6— Fire service record book. 

7— Company log book. 

8— Card record of individual members of the force. 

9— Card record containing a complete description of each 

building in the city. 

10— Fire prevention inspection report. 

11— Monthly report upon condition of apparatus and equip¬ 

ment. 

12— Individual efficiency records. 

13— Records in connection with training school for firemen. 

14— Record of delinquencies. 

15— Record of complaints. 

16— Record of places licensed to sell, store or manufacture 

explosives and combustibles and the persons licensed to 
transport the same. 

17— Record and description of moving picture shows, theaters 

and other places where large assemblages are permitted. 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


305 


18— Daily report by the firemen assigned to the theaters. 

19— Horse records. 

20— Records of assignments and transfers. 

21— Reports upon fire drills in stations. 

22— History and record of fire stations. 

23— Hose record. 

24— Record of apparatus. 

25— Surgical records. 

26— The running card. 

27— Unit cost records. 

28— Annual report. 

Daily Morning Return 

The captain should be required each morning to file a daily 
morning return concerning the activities of his company for the 
preceding twenty-four hours. This report should be forwarded to 
the assistant chief who should review it for accuracy, endorse it and 
forward it to the office of the chief. The return should be made 
upon a specially provided form with headings calling for the follow¬ 
ing information concerning the company: 

Each roll call for 24 hours. 

Names of absentees. 

Duration of absence. 

Cause of absence. 

Time consumed by firemen for meals. 

Time consumed at fires. 

The number of alarms responded to. 

The number of times the horses were hitched. 

The time devoted to drills. 

The kind of drills. 

Details—names of firemen detailed and character of detail. 
The number of names of members of the command assigned 
to fire prevention inspection. 

The number of inspections made. 

The class of buildings inspected. 

The number of violations reported. 

Actual time consumed in inspection work. 

The name of the fireman on house duty. 

Remarks.. 

Under the heading “Remarks” should be entered any unusual 
occurence such as injuries to or loss of property, charges preferred, etc. 

The rules should prescribe that any absence occuring during 
the day after the fiiling of this report be reported by telephone and 
recorded on the following morning’s report. 

Consolidated Daily Return 

Each morning by ten o’clock, the chief should have before him 
a detailed report concerning the activities of the entire force for the 
preceding twentv-four hours and up to 9 A. M. of the current day. 
This, report should be known as the consolidated daily return, which 


(20) 




306 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


should be a recapitulation on one sheet of all of the information con¬ 
tained upon the daily company returns. 

The report should show in addition to the information taken 
from the daily station return the following: 

Total number of alarms to date. 

Total number of alarms to the same date of the preceding 
year. 

Total number of alarms during the entire preceding year 
classified as to box, telephone, and still. 

Cause of alarms as to fire, accident, unnecessary and false. 
Probable causes of fires, classified. 

Number of fires occuring between the hours of (I A. M. and 
fi P. M. 

Number of fires occuring between 0 P. M. and 12 Midnight. 
Number of fires occuring between 12 Midnight and <5 A. M. 
Number of fires to date. 

Number of fires the same date of the preceding year. 

Total number of fires of the preceding year. 

Total loss represented by the fires to date. 

Total loss represented by the fires to the same date of the pre¬ 
ceding year. 

The strength of the force at 9 A. M. 

Officers. 

Firemen. 

One copy of this report should be forwarded to the administra¬ 
tive head. The report should be printed upon a form of convenient 
size for binding. 

Individual Company Fire Service Report 

While the present company fire service report calls for consid¬ 
erable information concerning each fire it is nevertheless incomplete 
and should be revised so as to conform with the following: 

Report of fire number.during the year 19. 

(the number of the fire shquld be written in at the office 
of the chief and not by the company). 

Engine company number.truck company num¬ 
ber. 

Fire number.attended bv this companv during 

19. 

Date. 

Day of week. 

Report of fire at No.Street. 

Alarm received by telephone.over box verbal¬ 
ly.at station. 

Time alarm was received. 

Time (if engine company) consumed in reaching and coupling 

to hydrant. 

Time delayed. 

Cause of delay. 

The hydrant was found in 

for.hours. 

pounds of water pressure. 


condition and was used 
minutes with. 























FIRE DEPARTMENT 


307 


Number of gallons of water used. 

(If chemicals are used the amount of chemicals and the 
time chemical stream was turned on should also be 
shown.) 

Reported to.and were ordered by. 

Number of minutes consumed in getting a stream on the 
fire. 

Amount of delay, if any,.and the reason. 

The pipe was taken to. 

The supply of water was adequate, inadequate (explain here 
any difficulty with the supply of water). 


The company was out of quarters.hours. 

minutes. 

The company worked at the fire..hours 

min utes. 


If truck company, number of feet of ladders used. 

number of searchlights used. 

On the reverse side of this report there should appear headings 
calling for remarks concerning department property lost, found or 
destroyed, accidents, etc. There should also appear a list of the officers 
and men of each company who did not appear at the fire and the reason 
for their absence. This report should be signed by the commanding 
officer of the company and forwarded to the assistant chief who should 
review and sign it before forwarding it to the office of the chief. 

Assistant Chiefs’ Fire Service Reports 

The assistant chiefs should be required to file a detailed report 
upon each fire independent and apart from that filed by the company. 
The report should be made by the assistant chief in whose district the 
fire occurred, it should provide for the following information concerning 
each fire: 

Number of alarms sent in. 

Duration of fire.hours. minutes. 

Location of fire. 

Date. 

Day of week. 

Time alarm was received. 

Time of signal out. 

Fire company to arrive. 

Time of arrival. 

Alarm received by box signal number. 

Alarm received by telephone.by telegraph 

bureau. 

Alarm received from outside telephone (orally, or in any 

other manner). 

Alarm communicated by. 

Cause of alarm..fire.unneces- 

sarv.false.other cause. 





































308 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Description of building: 

Stories high. 

Material built of. 

Fireproof.semi-fireproof.non-fireproof. 

Character of building.tenement. 

private dwelling.factory. 

loft building.etc. 

Size. 

Name of owner. 

Address of owner. 

Name of occupant of part of building affected by 

fire.„. 

Names of other occupants and floors occupied. 


Part of building where fire originated.. 

Fire extended to. 

With whom insured. 

Amount of insurance.building..con¬ 
tents. 

Estimated loss.building—contents. 

Probable cause of fire... 

Apparatus responding to alarm 
First alarm 

Engine company.truck company. 

chemical number.fuel wagon . 

Second alarm 

Engine company.truck company...._ 

chemical number.fuel wagon. 

Third alarm 

Engine company.truck company. 

chemical number.fuel wagon. 

Fourth alarm 

Engine company.truck company.’. 

chemical number.fuel wagon. 

Number of men on fire grounds.chief officers. 

company officers.firemen. 

Time second alarm was ordered. 

Time and by whom sent in and from what box. 

Time of each subsequent alarm and by whom ordered and lo¬ 
wborn sent in and from what box. 


Remarks 

On the reverse of this form space should be provided for a record 
of all officers present at the fire, arranged in order of rank. This 
record should show the time the officers left, as well as the time they 
arrived. The lower half of the form should be devoted to a com¬ 
plete and detailed description of the methods used in extinguishing 























































FIRE DEPARTMENT 


J09 


the fire; whether by chemical, water line or other means. Under 
the heading “Remarks” should appear a detailed description of any 
accidents, rescues or any other incidents in connection with the fire. 

This service report should be made out in triplicate by the as¬ 
sistant chief first to arrive at the fire, or by the assistant" chief in 
whose district the fire occurs. One copy should be forwarded to the 
fire chief, one copy retained upon file at the office of the assistant 
chief, and the original copy forwarded to the administrative head. 

Upon the original copy, which is filed with the administrative 
head, there should appear at the top printed headings to be filled in 
by the chief as follows: 

Number of fires to date. 

Number of false alarms to date. 

Total number of fires during the preceding year. 

Total number of false alarms during preceding year. 

Total number of fires to corresponding date of preceding year. 

Total number of false alarms to corresponding date of pre¬ 
ceding year. 

Bursting Hose Report 

Special printed forms should be provided upon which to report 
bursting hose. The report should contain a detailed statement con¬ 
cerning the hose damaged, including the date the hose was purchased, 
the date it went into service, the location of the fire at which the 
break occurred, and, when possible, the cause of the break, whether 
increased pressure, burned, falling of heavy weights, run over by 
apparatus or street car, etc. etc. This slip should also be used for 
reporting upon hose destroyed in burning buildings. The informa¬ 
tion contained upon these reports should be posted on the card record 
of hose. 

Fire Service Record Book 

The present record of fire service is adecpiate and in accordance 
with good practice except that all alarms should be serially numbered 
and information recapitulated monthly. 

Company Log Book 

A company log book, which is called a “record of alarms”, is now 
maintained at each fire-house. It is adequate for the purpose but con¬ 
tains information which should be omitted therefrom and is posted 
without regard for any definite rules. It is recommended that this 
book be called the “company log book”, and that all entries relat¬ 
ing to service at fires be omitted therefrom inasmuch as the card 
record of fire service is suffiicent. In this book should be recorded 
chronologically all other matters affecting the company or any member 
thereof. It is not necessary that this log book be a printed record, 
but the rules of the department should contain definite instructions 
as to the information to be recorded in the book and the manner of 
entrv. 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


J10 

Card Record of Individual Members of the Force 

A card record of the individual members of the force should be 
maintained at the offices of the administrative head, the chief of the 
department, the assistant chiefs and also at the fire stations. 

The records at the assistant chiefs’ offices should include only 
the cards of the members of their commands, and the records at the 
fire stations should likewise include only the cards of the men as¬ 
signed to the station. 

These card records should have printed headings calling for a 
complete history of each member. They should include among other 
things the following: 

Full name. 

Age. 

Date of birth. 

Place of birth. 

Residence. 

Married or single. 

Number of children, if any. 

Ages of children. 

Date of appointment. 

Residence telephone, if any 

Date of first assignment to duty. 

Place and title of assignment. 

Special details. 

Record of delinquencies. 

Record of meritorious acts performed. 

Promotions. 

Efficiency ratings, month by month. 

Number of days absent due to—- 
Sick leave. 

Without pay. 

• Special leave with pay. 

V acation. 

Suspension. 

When a fireman is appointed, four copies of this card should be 
prepared: one to be filed at the office of the administrative head 
alphabetically, one in the office of the chief filed alphabetically, one 
in the office of the assistant chief of the district to which the fire¬ 
man is assigned filed in the records of the company to which he is 
assigned, and the last to be handed by the fireman himself to the captain 
of the company to which he is assigned. This last card should travel 
with the fireman to each station where he performs duty, ft should 
be kept posted to date and filed alphabetically. 

Card Record Containing Complete Description of Buildings 

With the exception of the reports of fire prevention inspection, 
which are filed without regard to location and in such a manner as 
to be of little value as a ready reference guide, the department has 
no descriptive data as to all of the buildings in the city. No record 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


311 


in connection with firefighting is more important than a comprehen¬ 
sive record of the interior of the structures which the firemen may 
be called upon to protect. Each assistant chief should be required 
to maintain a card record containing an accurate description of all 
the buildings in his district. These cards should show concerning 
the building, in detail, the location of standpipes, sprinkler shut-offs, 
tanks, hatchways, elevators, boiler rooms, electric light and other 
switches, gas connections in mains, as well as the weight and charac¬ 
ter of material stored upon each floor. There should also be a sketch 
of the building, with its exits, fire escapes, and floors accurately 
shown. 

\\ hen such cards have been prepared, the assistant chief should 
be required to cause copies to be made and kept at the fire stations. 
The captains should insist that the firemen familiarize themselves 
with the information on the cards, and should conduct frequent ex¬ 
aminations to determine whether the firemen have studied them. They 
should be used in connection with the lectures and tests suggested 
elsewhere in this report. 

Fire Prevention Inspection Report 

'I'lie form used for reporting fire prevention inspections is wholly 
inadequate in that it does not furnish the department with proper 
information concerning either the manner in which the inspection was 
made or the premises inspected. It is recommended that a card be 
substituted instead of the present sheet and that the report call for 
detailed information concerning all premises inspected, ft is recom¬ 
mended that the report form used by the New York bureau of fire 
prevention be used as a guide in drafting a form for use in the Norfolk 
department. 

Monthly Report Upon Condition of Apparatus and Equipment 

Each month the chief should require that captains file a report 
as to the condition of the apparatus and property under their charge. 
As to the steamers, the master mechanic should be required to file 
a separate report setting forth the number and kinds of tests of 
steamers conducted by him with the results of the tests shown. This 
report should also contain recommendations for improving the con¬ 
dition of the steamers. 

Individual Efficiency Records 

Although it is alleged that promotions are made upon merit only, 
no competitive civil service tests are held and no efficiency records 
maintained. In considering members for promotion to higher rank 
the negative record, namely, the record of firemen’s delinquencies, is 
the only evidence to which the board may refer. Thus, while mis¬ 
haps and misconduct serve to lessen a fireman's chance of promotion, 
his faithful, diligent service or extraordinary effort do not result in 
giving him any advantage in promotion. Therefore, in order that 
the practical fireman, whose continuous service has been faithful and 
efficient, shall be selected as the commanding officer of the depart¬ 
ment rather than the fireman who is merely a close student and who 


312 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


specializes in the theory of fire-fighting, the installation of efficiency- 
records is recommended. 

It is frequently argued that it is especially difficult to give ef¬ 
ficiency ratings to firemen except as based on their work at fires, and 
that such a system as is recommended would not be equitable, inas¬ 
much as some companies respond to more alarms than others. De¬ 
spite this contention, however, equitable efficiency ratings can be 
given firemen regardless of the number of alarms to which they re¬ 
spond, and their work at fires need represent only a part of the activity 
upon which they should be rated. That the fireman who is assigned 
to the company which is most frequently in service will have oppor¬ 
tunity to secure higher ratings for practical service than the fireman 
assigned to the company in the suburban district is true, and this 
is as it should be, since the experience gained by the fireman in the 
busy congested value district better fits him for the duties of a com¬ 
manding officer. But if the chief transfers the firemen from one 
section of the city to another from time to time in order that all 
may have an opportunity at active service this will not work an in¬ 
justice. 

The fireman’s efficiency should be determined by other factors 
as well as by fire-fighting. Thus, in awarding efficiency ratings con¬ 
sideration should be given to the following: 

Punctuality in reporting for duty, in responding to alarms, 
in reporting from meals and in performing duties • assign¬ 
ed to him at the station. 

General appearance at all times. 

Proficiency in report writing. 

Proficiency in drill. 

General discipline about the fire-house. 

Willingness to perform extra service. 

Intelligence in fire prevention inspection. 

Eagerness to learn the most improved methods of firefight¬ 
ing by reading current publications, by studying the card 
descriptions of the property in the districts, by becoming 
familiar with the location of fire hydrant's, alarm boxes, 
etc. 

Efficiency in fire-fighting and in the handling of apparatus. 

To determine the efficiency of the firemen in the matters referred 
to above, with the exception of their work at fires, each captain 
should conduct frequent tests. He should continuously observe the 
conduct of the men about the fire house. He should encourage his 
men to read current publications upon fire-fighting, and to studv 
improved methods of fire-fighting. Many hours of leisure time now 
occupied by the firemen in card-playing, shawl-making, and similar 
activities could be devoted with advantage to study. If this plan 
were carried out, the problem which confronts most fire chiefs as 
to what to do with the leisure time of firemen could be easily solved, 
and solved in the interest of efficiency. Indeed, the captain should 
be required to lecture to the men of his command a certain number 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


313 


of hours each week, and to examine them upon the subject of his 
lectures. 

Records in Connection with Training- School for Firemen 

The officer in charge of the training school for firemen should 
be required to maintain complete and detailed records of the attend¬ 
ance, punctuality, appearance, attention to discipline, spelling, and 
answers to all questions in class, as well as ability to master special 
subjects on the practical side of the work, such as the handling of 
apparatus, ladder-climbing, and general information as to the methods 
of fire-fighting. 

A monthly report based upon the ratings given by the instructor 
should be furnished to the chief and the administrative head. These 
reports should be used to determine the fitness of the firemen for 
duty. 

Record of Firemen’s Delinquencies 

The record of delinquencies of members of the force should be en¬ 
tered upon their personnel cards. All of the papers and documents in 
each case should be filed in the individual personnel folder. For the 
purpose of speedy reference and tabulation, a small book alphabetically 
indexed should be maintained for keeping the record of firemen’s delin¬ 
quencies. 

Record of Complaints 

Inasmuch as it is recommended elsewhere in this report that 
the chief be designated as an executive officer of the fire prevention 
commission, it is essential that he maintain proper records of citizens’ 
complaints, violations reported, and the results of prosecutions 
brought. For this purpose, it is recommended that, the chief main¬ 
tain a record of complaints in which should be kept a record of every 
complaint received, whether written or oral, requiring the attention 
of the department of fire. This should include every violation dis¬ 
covered by members of the force and the report of the investigation 
of the complaint as well as the action taken thereon. The book 
should be indexed by name, and also by subject complained of, so 
that it would be possible to tabulate, without referring to original 
correspondence files, complaints received and the action taken upon 
them. 

Record of Places Licensed to Handle Combustibles 

No record is of greater importance to the officers of a fire de¬ 
partment than a complete record of the places where inflammables, 
explosives and combustibles are handled and stored; consequently, 
it is of importance that the fire department and its officers maintain 
a complete list of all places licensed to sell, manufacture, store or use 
combustibles, explosives, or inflammables. Not only should they 
maintain these records, but the location of these places should also 
be well known to the officials of the department, since they create a 
speciallv hazardous condition. 


314 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


For this purpose the chief should establish a card record of all 
such places. 

Record of Moving - Picture Shows and Theaters 

inasmuch as moving-picture show-houses and theaters are of an 
extra hazardous nature, because of the possibility of injury to life 
and limb through panic, even though a fire may of itself do little or 
no damage, it is important that such places have continued attention 
through inspection and observation by the officers of the fire depart¬ 
ment. 

in order that the officers of the fire department may have com¬ 
plete knowledge of these places, it is recommended that the chief 
establish a complete card record of all theaters, moving-picture show- 
houses, and other places where large assemblages of people are held. 

The information contained upon these cards should be detailed 
in its description of the exits, fire-fighting appliances, and all other 
matters of which the firemen should have an intimate knowledge. 
There should also be in the office of the chief complete floor plans 
of the building, upon which should be plainly indicated the position 
of each stairway, lobby, corridor, passage or hall, and exit door, 
including the basement from the street front to the extreme rear 
portion, the open courts and exits therefrom, the position of every 
water and gas pipe and every electric wire, as far as possible, and the 
position of every water main, standpipe or hydrant, and of every 
line of sprinkler pipe, with the lines connecting each separate system 
of piping and electric wires indicated so as to be clearly distinguisha¬ 
ble. An index of such lines should be given on each plan. The plans 
should be made on tracing linen and drawn to a scale of not less than 
eight feet to the inch. The adoption of an ordinance compelling the 
filing of such plans is recommended. 

Daily Report by Firemen Assigned to the Theaters 

Firemen detailed to theaters should be required to make a 
thorough inspection of the buildings before the time for raising the 
curtain and to report in detail all matters observed during the in¬ 
spection. For the purpose a specially provided printed form should 
be issued, which form should have printed headings calling for de¬ 
tailed information concerning the theater. 

Horse Records 

At present, the department is practically without any records 
concerning the horses of the department. A card record should be 
established at once. This record should contain : 

1— Date the horse entered the service. 

2— Name or number. 

3— Distinguishing marks. 

4— Pedigree as far back as possible. 

3—Weight and height. 

3—Physical condition when purchased. 

7—Station assigned to. 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


315 


This card should be sent to the station to which the horse is as¬ 
signed. Upon it should be recorded each time the horse is injured 
or sick, the treatment accorded him, the length of time laid off, and 
the name of the doctor treating him. A complete history of each 
horse in the department would thus be maintained. If a horse is 
transferred to another station, the card should be transferred with 
him. 

Reports Upon Fire Drills in Stations 

Each captain should be required to forward to the chief of the 
department a weekly written report stating: 

1— Number of drills conducted by him in his lire station. 

2— Length of time devoted to each drill. 

3— Class of drill conducted (described in detail). 

4— Number of men absent during drills. 

History and Record of Fire Stations 

The department should maintain a card history of each of the 
several fire stations. This card should show the date the fire station 
was constructed, bought or rented, the original cost of purchase of 
the ground, the cost of construction, the cost of equipment, an accurate 
description of the building floor by floor, with a record thereon of 
all repairs made to the building, and their cost, and all such other 
data in the way of history as may be collected and be of value to 
the department. Attached to this card should be a photograph of 
the building to be made a permanent record of the department. 

Hose Record 

A separate card record of hose purchased should be maintained. 
This record should show the date of the purchase, the brand, size, 
from whom purchased, price paid, and to which company assigned. 
Records of breaks or destruction of hose should be entered on this 
card, which should also contain a record of condemnation and sale 
of hose and serve as a life history of each consignment of hose 
purchased. From this record, it should be possible to tabulate the 
number of bursting hose, the amount of hose destroyed, the amount 
condemned, the average price paid, the average life of hose, and any 
other information concerning this most important part of the equip¬ 
ment. 

Record of Apparatus 

A record similar to that suggested for recording the life of hose 
should also be maintained for recording the history of apparatus 
and equipment. On this card should be kept a complete history of 
all apparatus and equipment purchased. It should show the date of 
purchase, the price paid, from whom purchased, a complete descrip¬ 
tion of the apparatus, the company to which assigned, a record of 
subsequent repairs with the cost thereof, bv whom made, length of 
time out of service for repairs and all other information which would 
enable the establishment of unit costs of equipment and of the main¬ 
tenance thereof. 


316 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Surgical Records 

The records which should be maintained by the surgeon and 
the character of the reports which he should make to the administra¬ 
tive head are fully described in the section of the report discussing 
the surgeon for the police and lire departments. 

Running Card 

The running card of the department is well arranged and each 
company is supplied with a copy. It is a bound book. At such 
time as a new running card is prepared, it should be either a card 
record or printed on loose leaves so as to permit of making changes 
from time to time without the necessity of reprinting the whole 
book. 

Unit Cost Records 

While the records with regard to the business management of 
the department of lire are for the most part satisfactory, it is never- 
the less a fact that from the records as now maintained it would be 
difficult to establish unit costs of repair and construction work. 

The establishment of proper unit cost records is recommended. 

Annual Report 

If the records suggested above are efficiently maintained, it will 
be possible to issue a comprehensive annual report which will be of 
administrative value. The issuance of such a report is recommended. 
It is essential that the annual report contain a comprehensive financial 
statement which will show in tabular form the unit cost of furnish¬ 
ing fire protection, the per capita fire loss, the moneys appropriated 
for the department, and disbursements on account of salaries, re¬ 
pairs, supplies, equipment, maintenance of horses and apparatus, etc., 
year by year for a period of five'years. No table in this report should 
fail to show a comparison with previous years. 

A section of the report should be devoted to the force, in which 
should appear, among other statements, tables showing the number of: 

Appointments. 

Transfers. 

Promotions. 

Retirements. 

Deaths. 

Dismissals. 

Trials upon charges and dispositions. 

Reinstatements. 

Days lost by firemen due to illness. 

Prevailing causes of illness. 

Days lost by firemen due to injuries received in the per¬ 
formance of duty. 

Commendations awarded to firemen. 

Sanitary condition of the fire houses. 

The report should show in tabular form complete statistics of fire, 
including the number of fires confined to the points of starting, confined 


FIRE DEPARTMENT 


317 


to the building, extending to other buildings, extinguished without 
engine stream, extinguished with one stream, two streams, three 
streams, etc.; extinguished by chemicals, and as much detailed informa¬ 
tion concerning the method of extinguishment as possible. There should 
also be a table showing the number of fires month by month be¬ 
tween the hours of 6 A. M. and G P. M., and G P. M. and G A. M. 
The number of fire prevention inspections, month by month, and the 
result of such inspections as to orders issued, violations found, orders 
complied with, prosecutions brought, fines collected and conditions 
remedied, should be shown in another table. The character of build¬ 
ings in which the fires occur, classified as to tenement, flat, dwelling, 
factory, loft building, freight depot, subclassified as to stories of 
buildings and type of construction, to wit: brick, frame, steel, fire- 
resisting, semi-fire-resisting, should be indicated. The character of 
the business conducted in the part of the buildings in which fires occur 
should be shown in this table, care being taken to indicate any 
hazardous condition in connection with the business occupying the 
premises in which the fire occured. For example, if the business be 
a grocery store, whether the store had a kerosene oil tank should 
be indicated. The probable cause of the fires should be reported. 
In describing the methods used in fighting the fires, the actual number 
of men engaged in each of the fires should be shown. Fires in which the 
loss is high should be described in detail, as should also any loss which 
is the result of delay, care being taken to report accurately and honest¬ 
ly upon the cause of the delay, such as bursting hose, lack of water 
pressure, defective hydrants, etc. 




NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


REPORT ON A SURVEY 

OF THE 

CITY GOVERNMENT 

VOL. II 


Prepared by 

THE BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RESEARCH 
NEW YORK 

SEPTEMBER-DECEMBER, 1915 



321 


Contents 

VOLUME II. 


Page. 


Public Welfare Functions. 323 

Proposed Department of Welfare. 325 

Department of Health. 329 

City Veterinarian . 375 

City Home . 381 

City Market . 387 

Public Works Functions. 391 

Proposed Department of Public Works. 393 

General Financial Administration. 403 

General Engineering Administration. 409 

Highways and Sewers (Proposed Bureau of Highways 

and Sewers). 425 

Building Inspection (Proposed Bureau of Buildings).... 443 

Water Supply (Proposed Bureau of Water). 449 

Street Cleaning and Collection and Disposal of Refuse 

(Proposed Bureau of Sanitation). 473 

Park Functions. 505 

Proposed Department of Parks. 507 

Present Department of Parks, Commission on Beautifying 
the City, Playground Commission and Department of 
Cemeteries . 521 

Civil Service. 527 


(21) 



















322 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


GRAPHIC CHARTS SHOWING PRESENT AND PROPOSED 
ORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC WELFARE AND 
PUBLIC WORKS FUNCTIONS. 

Following 

Title. Code. Page. 


Present Organization—Public Welfare Functions. . A 327 

Proposed Organization—Public Welfare Functions.. B 334 

Present Organization—Public Works Activities.... C 400 

Proposed Organization—Department of Pub. Works D 400 

Present Organization—Office of City Engineer. E 428 

Proposed Organization—Bureau of Highways. F 428 

Present Organization—Department of Water. G 452 

Proposed Organization—Bureau of Water. H 452 

Present Organization—Department of Street Clean¬ 
ing . I 476 

Proposed Organization—Bureau of Sanitation. J 476 








PUBLIC WELFARE FUNCTIONS 


323 


Public Welfare Functions 



PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF WELFARE 


325 


Proposed Department of Welfare 































































DEPARTMENT OF WELFARE 


327 


PUBLIC WELFARE FUNCTIONS 
PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF WELFARE 

Tendency Toward Consolidation of Welfare Functions 

No matter what general plan of reorganization of the city government 
of Norfolk may be made, there can be little question as to the advisability 
of grouping under a single administrative head certain functions of 
government which are interrelated. Some attempt has been made to do 
this under the present plan, but the lines of authority are not clearly de¬ 
fined and the proper correlation of the various functions of government 
is thereby made difficult. 

Chart B herewith included shows the general organization plan for 
a department of public welfare consisting of the following units: 

Department of public welfare. 

Bureau of health: 

Division of transmissible diseases, 

Division of care of sick poor, 

Division of child hygiene, 

Division of vital statistics, 

Division of laboratory, 

Division of sanitary inspection. 

City Home. 

Bureau of markets. 

Bureau of weights and measures. 

The functions delegated to the proposed bureau of health and the 
City Home may have to do almost wholly with the health of the community. 
The city markets and the functions of the sealer of weights and measures 
are concerned chiefly with the economic interests of citizens. One of the 
most important considerations, however, with reference to present market 
supervision is that of the sanitation of the market and the protection of 
the health of consumers. It is, therefore, very desirable to bring the 
supervision of markets into closer contact with other health activities. 
The functions of the sealer of weights and measures are also very closely 
related to those of the health inspector of foods. 

Commissioner of Welfare Should Be Superintendent of 
the Bureau of Health 

The chief function of the department of welfare is the preservation 
and the promotion of public health. It is, therefore, proposed that, if 
such reorganization is deemed advisable, the commissioner of welfare act 
also as superintendent of the bureau of health. The general administra¬ 
tive duties of the commissioner, as head of the department of welfare, 
are not great and would require but a small part of his time. 

In order that the clerical work of the proposed department of welfare 
may not seriously interfere with the administrative work of the commis¬ 
sioner, it is recommended that a clerk be employed to take charge of such 
routine duties as may be required. 


328 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Salary Cost Under Proposed Plan 

The accompanying statement shows the salary cost of all functions 
which should be included in the proposed department of public welfare. 
Although, as indicated therein, there is a net increased salary cost under 
the proposed plan of $7,130, the saving resulting from improved service 
should more than outweigh this cost. For example, the discontinuance of 
fumigation means a saving of several hundred dollars apart from the 
saving in salary of the chief fumigator. The reorganization of dispensary 
service would mean the saving not only of the salary of one apothecary, 
but perhaps half of the $3,000 now spent for drugs, and further, would 
mean a saving of part at least of the $800 or more now spent for dressings 
at the city hospital. Not only should financial savings be a result but also 
an improved service and a consequent improvement in the health of the 
community. 


PRESENT ORGANIZATION OP PUBLIC WELFARE FUNCTIONS 



/O /ft y*Of 



































































































































































































' : 

. 





. 




















• ■ • - . - ■ -- 

























PROPOSED ORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC WELFARE FUNCTIONS 
OF THE CITY OF NORFOLK VIRGINIA 



77/if N E W Y Off* & Ut?£ SI U Of MV** i C. If-Wl 








































































































































































































STATEMENT SHOWING POSITIONS RECOMMENDED FOR PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF WELFARE 


Present Organization 
—---— 

Proposed Department of Welfare 

- 



No. of 
Employ¬ 
ees 

Title of Position 

Rate 

Salary 

Cost 

No. of 
Employ¬ 
ees 

Title of Position 

Rate 

Salary 

Cost 

Increase 

Decrease 

Remarks 


I 

1 



Department of Health 




1 

Commissioner . 

$2,500 

$2,500 


1 

Assistant Commissioner. 

1,800 

1,800 

1 

4 

Assistant Commissioners. 

1,200 

4,800 

3 

1 

Stenographer . 

720 

720 

1 

1 

Food Inspector. 

1,020 

1,020 

1 

2 

1 

Dairy Inspector. 

1,200 

1,200 

1 

6 

Sanitary Inspectors. 

960 

5,760 

6 

1 

Inspector of City Lakes. 

900 

900 


1 

Keeper of Craney Island. 

1,200 

1,200 

1 

1 

Chief Fumigator. 

1,080 

1,080 

1 

1 

Assistant to Fumigator. 

600 

600 

2 

Apothecaries . 

1,200 

2,400 

1 

1 


(City physician now acts as bacteriologist) 



1 

1 

Assistant to bacteriologist. 

780 

780 

1 

1 

Nurse Detention Hospital. 

720 

720 

1 

1 


School Board 

50(mo.) 

500(io 

1 

1 

Medical Inspector. 

9 



mos.) 


4 

Medical Inspectors. 

40 “ 

1,600 “ 


5 

School Nurses. 

65“ 

O 

LO 

C\1 

CO 

5 


Physician to City Home 

1,200 

1,200 


1 

Physician. 

1 


City Veterinarian 


1,800 


1 

City Veterinarian. 

1,800 

1 


1 

Public Market 


1 

Superintendent. 

1,200 

1,200 

1 

1 

Assistant Superintendent. 

City Home 

720 

720 

1 

1 


1,200 

1,200 

1 

1 

Assistant Superintendent. 

480 

480 

1 

1 

Chaplain. 

150 

150 

1 

1 

Nurse. 

600 

600 

1 

1 

Nurse. 

420 

420 

1 

1 

Nurse. 

360 

360 

1 

4 

Nurses . 

120 

480 

4 

1 

Cook. 

420 

420 

1 

1 

Assistant Cook. 

200 

200 

1 

1 

Fireman and Carpenter. 

300 

300 

1 

1 

Stableman and Driver. 

300 

300 

1 

1 

Laundryman. 

240 

240 

1 

1 

Assistant Laundryman. 

Weights and Measures 

210 

210 

1 

1 

Sealer of Weights and Measures. 

1,800* 

1,800 

1 

1 

54 

Total 


$42,910 

61 


Department of Welfare 

Commissioner. 

Clerk. 

Bureau of Health 

Superintendent (Ex-officio) 

Deputy Superintendent. 

City Physicians. 

Stenographer . 

Registrar of Vital Statistics 

Food Inspectors. 

Dairy Inspector. 

Sanitary Inspectors. 

Keeper of Craney Island... 

Fumigator . 

Apothecary . 

Dispensary Physician. 

Bacteriologist . 

Assistant to Bacteriologist. 
Nurse Detention Hospital.. 

Tuberculosis Nurse. 

Contagious Disease Nurse.. 

City Physicians. 


School Nurses. 
City Physician 


Chief Meat Inspector. 

Assistant Meat Inspector. 

Bureau of Markets 

Superintendent. 

Assistant Superintendent. 

City Home 

Superintendent. 

Assistant Superintendent. 

Chaplain. 

Nurse. 

Nurse. 

Nurse. 

Nurses . 

Cook. 

Assistant Cook. 

Fireman and Carpenter. 

Stableman and Driver. 

Laundryman . 

Assistant Laundryman. 

Bureau of Weights and Measures 

Sealer of Weights and Measures.... 


Assistant t o Sealer of Weights and Measures . 

Total 


$4,000 

$4,000 

$1,500 


Commissioner of welfare should act also as super- 

1,200 

1,200 

1,200 


intendent of bureau of health 





Superintendent of bureau of health should be com- 





missioner of welfare—salary indicated above 

1,800 

1,800 



To act as chief sanitary inspector 

1,200 

3,600 


$1,200 

One of present assistant commissioners to be de- 





tailed to bacteriological laboratory—see bacter- 

720 

720 



iologist 

780 

780 

780 


New position recommended 

1,020 

2,040 

1,020 


One new food inspector recommended 

1,200 

1,200 




960 

5,760 







900 


1,200 

1,200 







1,080 

Position of chief fumigator discontinued 

600 

600 




1,200 

1,200 


1,200 

One apothecary discontinued 

1,800 

1,800 

1,800 


A dispensary physician on full time recommended 


( 



in place of apothecary 

1,200 

1,200 

1,200 


City physician detailed as bacteriologist—work as 





city physician to be discontinued 

780 

780 




720 

720 




780 

780 

780 


New position recommended 

780 

780 

780 


(( (C i i 

1,200 

2,400 

300 


Two city physicians at $1,200 for all year round 





service are recommended in place of the five 


i 



school physicians 

780 

3,900 

650 


The five nurses to be paid $780 a year for year 





round service 

1,200 

1,200 



In addition to medical attendance at City Home, 





this physician should be required to attend all 





surgical cases in the city hospital 

1,800 

1,800 



The city veterinarian should be chief meat inspec- 





tor of the health bureau 

1,200 

1,200 

1,200 


New position recommended 

1,200 

1,200 



j 

720 

720 




1,200 

1,200 




480 

480 




150 

150 




600 

600 




420 

420 




360 

360 




120 

480 




420 

420 



No change in employees at City Home 

200 

200 




300 

300 




300 

300 




240 

240 




210 

210 




1,200 

1,200 







600 

In place of $600 deducted, it is recommended that 





the city maintain automobile for use of sealer 

900 

900 

900 


New position recommended 


$50,040 

$12,110 

$4,980 

Net increase $7,130 


* $600 Paid in Lieu of State Fees 



































































































































I 




























































































































DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


329 


Department of Health 



DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


331 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 

General Administration 
Present Organization Inadequate 

It is essential for the carrying out of any thorough program of health 
service that there be first of all an adequate organization. The Ameri¬ 
can Public Health Association, recognizing this fact, has prepared, through 
a special committee, an outline of health activities which has been ap¬ 
proved by the Association as representing the most modern ideas in health 
control. According to this schedule, the activities of a health department 
should be directed along the following lines: 

1. General administration, including the adjustment and har¬ 

monious correlation of all health activities, the prepara¬ 
tion of the budget, selection of employees, keeping of 
records and reports, issuance of licenses and permits, care 
of buildings, stores, etc., and all other functions which 
relate to the department as a whole. 

2. Keeping of vital statistics including the issuance of birth and 

death certificates and the compilation and tabulation of 
data relative to births and deaths. 

3. Control of communicable diseases, including notification and 

registration of diseases, the provision of quarantine, the 
study of epidemiology as it relates to the protection of the 
food and water supplies, the provision of immunization 
against diseases through the administration of the various 
serums and antitoxins of proven value, the prevention of 
diseases of animals which are communicable to man. 

4. Promotion of child hygiene by means of prenatal work 

among expectant mothers, the supervision of midwives, 
maternity hospitals, day nurseries, and other institutions 
for the care of children, the medical inspection and super¬ 
vision of the health of school children and the issuance of 
employment certificates. 

5. Control of occupational diseases through notification and 

registration of diseases, the physical examination of 
workers and the inspection of premises to prevent indus¬ 
trial hazards. 

6. Supervision of the milk supply by the inspection and scoring 

of dairies and places where milk is handled or sold, the 
establishment of milk standards, etc. 

7. Supervision of the production, handling and sale of all other 

food products, including the inspection and condemnation 
of animals slaughtered for food purposes, and the control 
of public food markets. 

8 Provision of laboratory service for the detection and pre¬ 
vention of disease and the determination of such other 
facts relative to food, water, air, etc., as may be necessary 
for adequate health supervision. 


332 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


9. Public health education through publications, lectures, ex¬ 
hibits, etc. 

10. Control of nuisances including the investigation of com¬ 

plaints, the prevention of health hazards by reason of 
insanitary conditions of yards and premises, the extermi¬ 
nation of rats, flies, mosquitoes, and other creatures which 
carry disease, and the prevention of nuisance arising from 
promiscuous spitting, use of common utensils, common 
towels, etc. 

11. Supervision of hospitals and dispensaries in so far as such 

control may be legitimately exercised by the health depart¬ 
ment. 

12. Supervision of the construction and occupancy of buildings 

from the health standpoint. 

13. Supervision of water supply and sewage disposal in so far as 

it affects the community health. 

14. Supervision of the operation of public conveniences such as 

public baths and comfort stations. 

The last three functions are commonly under the direct control of 
city departments or organization units other than a health department. In 
considering the reorganization of the health department, therefore, these 
functions have not been considered as requiring additional divisions or 
units of organization. 

It will be noted in the foregoing outline that three very important func¬ 
tions of health control—functions four, five and seven—are not at present 
in any way provided for in the existing organization of the health depart¬ 
ment. These comprise: 

1. The promotion of child hygiene (No. 4). Medical school 

inspection is under the school board, and the physicians 
and nurses engaged on this work are not in any way re¬ 
sponsible to the direction of the health authorities. No 
service in the prevention of infant mortality through 
supervision of midwives, home visiting of mothers and 
babies by nurses, and the supervision of institutions for 
the care of babies is provided under the present health 
organization. 

2. (No. 5) The control of occupational diseases by notification 

and registration of diseases and by the inspection of 
workers and workshops. 

3. (No. 7.) That part of the functions of supervision of the 

production, handling and sale of food products which 
relates to the inspection and condemnation of animals 
slaughtered for food purposes. This service, although 
obviously health service, is now performed by the city 
veterinarian who is not responsible to the health depart¬ 
ment. The control of the city food market, which is 
included as a division of the function of food control, is 
also outside of the health department’s sphere. 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


333 


Chart A herewith shows not only the present organization of the 
health department, but also the relation or lack of relation of other health 
activities now under separate control, as indicated in the chart, the super¬ 
vision of the health of school children is directly under the supervision of 
the school board which is appointed by the council and therefore entirely 
outside the jurisdiction of the health commissioner. The city veterinarian 
is also appointed by council and is therefore not responsible for his work 
either to the board of control, nor to the health commissioner who is 
charged by ordinance with the protection of the community against the 
diseases of cattle and the sale for food purposes of contaminated meat and 
milk. The superintendent of markets is appointed by the board of control 
and is therefore not responsible in any way to the commissioner of health. 

A discussion of these functions and their relation to adequate health 
control will be considered in detail later in this report. 

Full Time Service and Long Tenure Essential for Commissioner 

The present health commissioner receives $?,500 a year. In the 
ordinances relative to his qualifications and appointment, nothing is said 
as to the amount of time which he shall spend in the city’s service. The 
present health commissioner is a practicing physician of the city who gives 
practically his entire time to the duties of his public office. The small 
salary paid him, however, necessitates his continuance of private practice 
so far as he is able to do so. He has no certainty that with a change of 
administration he will be retained and it is, therefore, necessary for him 
to keep a nucleus of private practice against the time when another shall 
be health commissioner. Owing to the demands and importunities of pri¬ 
vate practice, he is not only unable to give to the health department all of 
his time but he is unable to act independently in his dealings with outside 
physicians and the general public. 

Efficiency of health service demands full-time service and this fact 
has been recognized by public health authorities throughout the entire 
country. There must be also freedom from political limitations and from 
the importunities of private citizens upon whom the part-time physician 
commissioner is dependent for his outside practice. Freed from the neces¬ 
sity of augmenting his meagre salary by outside practice and from the 
hazards of political life, the health commissioner could give his entire time 
to public service and inaugurate and carry out a health program which 
would put Norfolk in the front rank of cities as regards health and sani¬ 
tation. 

It is recommended, therefore, that the superintendent or director of 
health be made a full-time officer at a salary of not less than $1,000 a 
year. His tenure of office should be dependent upon his good behavior and 
efficiency only. That is, he should hold office until removed by the ap¬ 
pointing power for incompetence, age or other disability. This would 
require an amendment of the existing ordinance relative to his qualifica¬ 
tions and term of office. 

Qualifications of Health Commissioner 

Although there is nothing in the ordinance which requires that the 
health commissioner shall be a physician or a resident of Norfolk, the 
method of nomination by the Norfolk Medical Society practically insures 


334 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


that the nominee shall be a physician and a resident of Norfolk. Neither 
of these qualifications, i. e., that the commissioner be a physician or that 
he be a resident of Norfolk, should be insisted upon. Some of the best 
health officers in the country are not physicians. In the employment of a 
health officer, the city should be free to go anywhere in the country to 
get the man wanted. Given a working organization and proper control, 
the present commissioner of health will do efficiently the work that Nor¬ 
folk needs. If, through change of administration or other cause he should 
be retired, the city has no assurance that, under the present method of 
nomination and appointment, another efficient health officer will be 
secured. A physician of ability, satisfactory to the Medical Society, may 
or may not make an efficient health officer. It is recommended, therefore, 
that these qualifications be eliminated and that the sole qualifications of 
the health officer be ability and experience in public health service. There 
should be no objection to the appointment of a nonresident or a layman 
provided he has experience and ability. 

Appointments Should Be Based Upon Personal Fitness 

Not the least of the difficulties under which the present health de¬ 
partment now labors is the avowed inability of the commissioner to appoint 
as his assistants men who are physically fit for public service. Of the 
six sanitary inspectors of the department, three are men who, on the 
ground of age alone, should be retired from service. The sanitary inspec¬ 
tor should be physically as fit as the policeman or fireman, for he is in fact 
a policeman who must be on patrol all day. It is not recommended 
that any of the present incumbents be immediately retired, but it is be¬ 
lieved that, for the good of the service, no more old or disabled men 
should be given appointments in the health department in lieu of a pension, 
and that when the present aged and infirm employees have been retired 
for disability appointments to these places be filled by younger and more 
competent men. 

Although in the case of the sanitary inspectors just mentioned, the 
appointments are made by the health commissioner, pressure of one kind 
or another is brought to bear upon him. He cannot act independently in 
the matter for his very existence as health commissioner is dependent upon 
his acquiescence to these demands. With a full-time health officer, inde¬ 
pendent of political changes or bias, these appointments could be made 
upon merit only as the result of competitive civil service examination or 
such other test as might be determined upon for city employees. 

Routine Office Work Costly 

Because of the lack of a definite and well co-ordinated health pro¬ 
gram, not only the commissioner, but bis assistant at a salary of $1,800 
per year is occupied almost the entire day in routine office work, such as 
answering inquiries by telephone and otherwise, and in attending to minor 
clerical details which should be performed by clerks at small salary cost. 
The assistant to the commissioner is by training and personal knowledge 
of local conditions particularly fitted for active field work in the supervision 
of inspectors, but, under the present organization plan, field inspectors go 
practically unsupervised, while the assistant commissioner is answering 
phone calls and attending to the clerical work of the office. This is 
extravagance in salary cost. 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


335 


At present, one clerk who acts as a secretary to the commissioner, 
and one sanitary inspector are employed in clerical'work. The use of the 
sanitary inspector in clerical work is explained by the fact that it is 
necessary to keep an inspector on duty in the office to attend to emergency 
inspection work, and the physical disability from which this inspector 
suffers makes his use as a field inspector impracticable. This force, with 
the assistance of a registrar of vital statistics to be later recommended, 
could perform all the clerical work required for the health department 
proper. 

Health Appropriations 

The total appropriation for health conservation for the fiscal year, ac¬ 
cording to the printed budget, was divided as follows: 


Health department: 

Ordinary $38,138.49 

Extraordinary 550.00 

City veterinarian 2,311.00 

Anti-tuberculosis league 1,000.00 

Board of quarantine commissioners 240.00 

Modified milk 400.00 


Total $42,639.49 


There are, however, certain other functions or organization units 
which should be included in the appropriation for health. The medical 
inspection of school children, which is under the supervision of the school 
board, is obviously a health function. The appropriation for this work, 
$5,350 for the salaries of physicians and nurses (minor appropriations 
for this work unspecified in the budget are not included in this sum), and 
the salary of the physicians to the City Home, should also be included in 
the total for health conservation. This brings the total up to $49,189.49. 

On this basis, the per capita cost for health service in Norfolk was 
55.8 cents. If we compare this figure of per capita cost, representing as it 
does the per capita for definite health functions, with the per capita cost 
for health service in other cities, it is clear that Norfolk is not getting all 
that it should for the money spent. Exact figures of per capita cost for 
health service in cities throughout the United States are not available, nor 
are they in many instances comparable, because there is little uniformity 
of health administration. In some cities, municipal hospital cost raises 
the per capita for health service very high; in others, the relief of the 
city sick poor is not a health department charge. In certain other cities, 
plumbing inspection is included as a division of health department control. 

The city of Rochester, N. Y. which stands preeminent among cities 
of this country in adequacy of health department control, spent in 1914 a 
total of $88,768.18, covering all lines of health activity, including its munic¬ 
ipal hospital and plumbing inspection. If we deduct the appropriation 
for plumbing inspection in Rochester—approximately $9,000—the total 
appropriation for health functions comparable to those performed by the 
health department of Norfolk was approximately $80,000. This gives a 
per capita cost for that city of 235,000 population of only 34 cents, and yet 
Norfolk is spending 55 cents per capita for actual health service. 



336 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


The reasons for Norfolk’s high per capita cost have in part been 
pointed out. The inability of the commissioner of health to select his 
employees upon a merit basis; the part-time, unsecured tenure of the health 
commissioner; use of high salaried employees for minor clerical work, and 
the lack of centralization of control of health functions have been men¬ 
tioned. All of these are factors in increased cost. Incompetent or physi¬ 
cally disabled employees lose time and therefore money at their work; 
the part-time short term health officer is unable, because of his short term 
and hampering private business, to work out a definite program of health 
economy and efficiency; lack of centralization of control means duplica¬ 
tion of effort and therefore increased cost. 

Vital Statistics 

Need for Complete and Accurate Statistics 

All preventive health work is based upon records of births, deaths 
and morbidity. To know where health service must be rendered, we must 
know first of all where, when and why sickness and death occur; we must 
know the relation that sickness and death bear to sex, age and economic 
and social conditions. If we are to conduct any effective campaign for the 
prevention of infant mortality, we must know when and where babies are 
born and the circumstances of their deaths. In other words, vital statis¬ 
tics are a diagnosis of the health conditions of a community, and just as 
the diagnosis of a patient by the attending physician indicates to the latter 
the remedy needed, so frequent observation and study of vital statistics 
of a community indicate to the health officer thereof the character of 
remedies—corrective measures, it needs. Without such records, a health 
officer is seriously handicapped. 

Birth Records Incomplete 

The health officer of Norfolk states that, in his opinion, only about 
60 per cent, of births are reported. This is, of course, a very low per¬ 
centage compared with other cities, and there are certain reasons in Nor¬ 
folk why complete registration of births is difficult. A great many births 
are attended by ignorant negro midwives who, from their ignorance, are 
not able to fill out birth certificates; many children are born without 
attendance either by physicians or midwives and many others, because of 
illegitimacy, are allowed to go unrecorded. 

An analysis was made of one hundred death certificates of the year 
1914 of children under two years of age to determine whether or not the 
births of these children' had been previously reported. It was found that 
of these one hundred children who had died under two years of age, birth 
certificates were found for only seventeen of them. This seems almost 
incredible, for if the present registration of births was only 17 per cent, 
efficient, the total births in Norfolk in 1914 would have been several times 
the number actually reported. It is not believed that the percentage of 
births reported is as low as indicated by this analysis, but the analysis 
does at least show that birth reporting is very defective. It indicates also 
that the children who die before two years of age are more likely to be 
those of whom no birth record has been made and over whose life the 
department, because of lack of knowledge of their existence, has been una¬ 
ble to exercise even a nominal supervision. 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


337 


Granting that birth registration is only 60 per cent efficient as esti¬ 
mated by the commissioner of health, and this we believe to be a reasona¬ 
bly fair estimate, 40 per cent of the babies are left unregistered. One 
hundred per cent, registration should be aimed at, although in Norfolk 
90 per cent, might be a fair standard. In either case, the problem is how 
to increase birth registration. 

Methods of Increasing Birth Registration 

First of all we must look to the law. The city ordinances require that 
physicians and midwives shall report births attended by them within six 
days of such births: In the first place, the time allowed is too long. There 
is no reason why births should not be reported within forty-eight hours. 
Physicians and midwives commonly delay the sending in of birth certifi¬ 
cates to the limit of the time allowance, and frequently by that time the 
parents and the child have passed from their control so that it is difficult to 
secure the necessary data. Death certificates are returned within twenty- 
four hours, and this does not impose any great hardship upon physicians. 
It is safe to say that if a time allowance of only forty-eight hours were 
made and enforced, birth registration would be considerably improved. 

The law also fixes a fine of not less than $5 nor more than $20 for 
failure to record births within the proper time. It is safe to say that if this 
were enforced many physicians and midwives would find their delinquency 
in this matter very, costly. The objection to fining physicians for failure 
to observe the laws, is that their co-operation is needed and that fining 
them will merely antagonize them. This is not true, for reputable physi¬ 
cians have no desire to evade the law. Their delinquency is simply care¬ 
lessness which grows worse instead of betier under lax enforcement of 
health laws. A law which is a dead letter is worse than no law at all. 
We recommend therefore that the health commissioner use the power which 
the law gives him for the prosecution of physicians and midwives who per¬ 
sistently violate the law. A few prosecutions would have a most wholesome 
effect in diminishing delinquency of reporting. 

A plan for improving birth registration which has been found effec¬ 
tive in New York City, Rochester, N. Y., Montclair, N. J., and other cities 
progressive in health work, is the issuance to the parents of a receipt for 
the birth record in the form of a certificate frpm the health department. In 
Montclair, a printed certificate embellished with the printed seal of the 
city is sent to parents of the child whose birth is reported. The result 
is that, particularly among the foreign-born population where registration 
is most defective, these certificates are highly prized, and when the 
mother of the new born child fails to receive a certificate she makes imme¬ 
diate inquiry to find out why no certificate has been sent her. The cost 
of this procedure is very small, being only the printing cost and the cost of 
mailing the certificates. 

The publication of birth notices in, the daily papers is another effective 
method of improving registration. If each day the health commissioner 
would send the list of births reported to the various papers, and make 
public announcement that he intended to follow this procedure, parents 
would look to see if their children’s births were printed, and unless they 
were, inquiry would be made to find out why. 


(22) 


338 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Systematic checking of the deaths of children, say under two years 
of age, with the birth records and calling to account those who fail to 
report births is a very effective means of improving birth registration. 
This procedure, the health commissioner states, will be put into effect 
immediately. 

The routine examination of the baptismal records in the various 
churches is also an effective means of “proving up” birth registration. The 
Roman Catholic Churches in particular, keep very complete and accurate 
records of baptism. 

Sanitary inspectors, physicians, nurses, and others may assist in regis¬ 
tration by making memoranda of the names and addresses of children met 
in the course of their visits to home, and then turning these memoranda 
over to the registrar who may look up their birth records to see that all 
have been recorded. 

Education of the public in the importance of birth registration 
through timely articles in the newspapers and by means of special 
bulletins has also been found effective. Dr. George W. Goler, of 
Rochester, N. Y., who has made a national reputation as an efficient 
and progressive health officer, has secured excellent results in increasing 
birth registration by posting advertising cards in the street cars. These 
cards read as follows: 

“Is Your Birth Registered, 

If your birth is not registered at the Health Bureau, you 
may not be allowed to 
Go to school, 

Leave school, 

Go to work, 

Vote, 

Marry, 

Hold public office, 

Leave a foreign country, 

Re-enter your own country, 

Inherit money or other property, 

Receive compensation insurance. 

Is your birth registeredt Ask the Health Bureau. Did 
the Doctor promptly report your birth?” 

Methods of Securing Better Death Registration 

In death registration proper certification of the cause of death is of 
great importance. The United States bureau of census recommends the 
use by physicians of the international list of the causes of death, so that 
it may be possible to classify the causes of death by this standard which is 
accepted throughout the civilized world. Norfolk classifies all deaths 
reported according to this list, but physicians are by no means careful in 
certifying the causes of death according to this standard. As a result, the 
health commissioner must endeavor to determine what the cause of death 
was from the data available in tbe certificate and then classify the disease 
accordingly. 

The desirability of not only following some such classification as 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


339 


here indicated, but also of insisting - that physicians follow this classifica¬ 
tion is obvious. It is important that the health commissioner know, for 
example, the exact number of infant deaths from diarrhoeal diseases, 
caused usually by faulty feeding - , if he is to carry out any plan for the 
prevention of such deaths, and yet we frequentlv find on the death certifi¬ 
cates that physicians have certified that death was due to “convulsions/’ 
“marasmus” or “inanition.” 

The infant’s “convulsions” may have been due to intestinal disorder, 
they may have been the result of contagious disease or of injury, or 
of some poisoning. In such cases the convulsions were not the cause of 
death but simply one of the symptoms of the primary disease or condition, 
No such cause of death as “convulsions” is listed in the international list 
of the causes of death. The same is true of “marasmus,” “inanition,” etc. 
Death records which are inaccurate are of no great value. 

Not only do the death certificates fail in many instances to report 
properly the cause of death, but important data as to age, sex, residence, 
etc., are frequently omitted. There is onlv one way in which these death 
certificates may be improved, and that is by requiring absolutely that phy¬ 
sicians observe the law. 

Need for a Registrar of Vital Statistics 

At the present time the assistant to the health commissioner acts as 
registrar among other duties, such as supervision of inspectors, clerical 
work, answering the telephone, etc. As a result of his varied duties, he 
has not been able to give to the registration of births and deaths the 
attention which it should have. It is therefore recommended that a clerk, 
to act as registrar, he appointed at a salary not to exceed $75 per month, 
who can take complete charge of the records of vital statistics. Other 
health departments have found that a woman clerk performs this service 
very satisfactorily. Each birth or death certificate should be examined 
by the registrar when it comes in to see if it is properly made out. If it 
is not, the registrar should see that the physician or midwife who made out 
the certificate is required to fill it out properly. Lists of those delinquent 
in the filing of certificates should be prepared monthly, so that the com¬ 
missioner can take such steps as may he necessary. The registrar should 
make such tabulations of deaths and births by age, location, sex, color and 
nativity as may be desirable, and should keep in summarized form records 
which will enable the health commissioner to present them in bulletins and 
reports to the citizens and to the officials of the government. A record 
should be kept, which will show the number of births reported by each 
physician, and each death record of a child under two years of age should 
be checked against the birth records to see if the child’s birth record is on 
file. 


It would be possible, under such a plan, not only to improve the cer¬ 
tificates themselves by seeing that all required information is supplied, 
but also to increase birth reporting. Without the employment of some 
person who is definitely charged with the responsibility for this work, no 
great improvement in the present system can be made. 


340 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Control of Transmissible Diseases 

Notification of Communicable Diseases 

The ordinance requiring the reporting of contagious or infectious 
diseases, states that: 

“ When any physician knows that any persons whom 
he is called upon to visit is infected with smallpox, 
diphtheria, scarlet fever, typhoid, measles, whooping- 
cough, or any other contagious or infectious disease 
dangerous to the public health .... such physician 
shall immediately give notice thereof to the board of 
control.” 

This ordinance leaves it to the health commissioner to determine 
definitely what diseases are to be reported other than those specified in the 
ordinance. Supplementing this ordinance, therefore, the commissioner has 
added the names of certain diseases to the list on the notification cards 
which are distributed to physicians for their use in reporting to the 
department. The list as found on this card is as follows: 

Measles, 

Scarlet fever, 

Diphtheria, 

Membranous croup, 

W hooping cough, 

Cholera, 

Typhus fever, 

Typhoid fever, 

Cerebro spinal meningitis, 

Tuberculosis, 

Smallpox, 

Yellow fever, 

Poliomyelitis. 

This list is, however, incomplete. 

The following list of notifiable infectious diseases is suggested 
(adopted by the Eleventh Annual Conference of State and Territorial 
Health Authorities with the United States Public Health Service at Min¬ 
neapolis, June 16, 1913). 

Infectious Diseases 

Actinomy cases—actinomcosis 
Anthrax. 

Chickenpox. 

Cholera, Asiatic (also cholera nostras when Asiatic cholera is 
present or its importation threatened). 

Continuing fever lasting seven days. 

Dengue. 

Diphtheria. 

Dysentery. 

a—Amobic. 
b—Bacillary. 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


341 


Favus. 

German measles. 

Glanders. 

Hookworm disease. 

Leprosy. 

Malaria. 

Measles. 

Meningitis. 

a—Epidemic cerebro spinal, 
b—Tuberculous. 

Mumps. 

Ophthalmia Neonatorum (conjunctivitis). 

Paragonimiasis (endemic hemoptysis). 

Paratyphoid fever. 

Plague. 

Pneumonia (acute). 

Poliomyelitis (acute infectious). 

Rabies. 

Rocky Mountain spotted or tick fever. 

Scarlet fever. 

Septic sore throat. 

'Smallpox. 

Tetanus. 

Trachoma. 

Trichinosis. 

Tuberculosis (all forms, the organ or part affected in each case 
to be specified). 

Typhoid fever. 

Typhus fever. 

Whooping cough. 

Yellow fever. 


In addition to the above list, the followin 
gested: 


Venereal Diseases 


cr 


other diseases are sug- 


Gonocoecus infection. 
Syphilis. 

Diseases of unknown origin. 
Pellagra. 

Cancer. 


It is recommended that this list as specified by the foremost health 
authorities of the country be used as a guide in drafting a new ordinance 
relative to the reporting of disease, and that in the ordinance the names 
of the diseases be specifically stated. 


Certain Diseases Not Now Reported 

Under the rules and regulations of the health department, physicians 
are not now required to report certain communicable diseases which 
are or may be under certain circumstances prevalent in Norfolk. For 
example, malaria, which is common throughout the south, is not con¬ 
sidered a reportable disease, and yet reports of existing cases of malaria 
are absolutely essential if any effective campaign is to be waged against 


342 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


the mosquito. Every case of malaria presupposes a previous case. The 
malaria mosquito must first bite a malaria patient and infect its own body 
with a blood of the malaria patient. If then we know where the malaria 
patients are and surround them with adequate safeguards against the bites 
of mosquitoes, we have at once cut off a source of infection. 

Again, hookworm diseases, prevalent in the rural districts of the 
south, is not reportable according to the regulations of the health depart¬ 
ment. We must know first of all where such disease exists if we are to 
take steps to stamp it out. The same is true of puerperal septicaemia, the 
infectious disease which is a frequent cause of the death of women after 
child birth. The report of a case of puerperal septicaemia should put the 
health department on its guard. The department should find out the cir¬ 
cumstances attending child-birth of this particular case, for a single dirty 
midwife unless prevented, could infect several women. In view of the 
fact that Norfolk has thirty-nine colored midwives entirely unsupervised, 
only three of whom have had any previous training, reporting of puerperal 
septicaemia should be mandatory. 

Another disease which is more or less prevalent throughout southern 
communities is dysentery due to an infective organism. This disease is 
readily transmissible and should, therefore, be reported by physicians in 
order that the health commissioner may issue specific instructions regard¬ 
ing the care of the patient, disinfection of stools, etc. 

Tetanus or lockjaw is not reportable. Fortunately, this a rather 
uncommon disease, but nevertheless it is a disease which should be re¬ 
ported to the health department in order that steps may be taken not only 
to see that all sources of infection may be eliminated as far as possible, 
but also that proper treatment of each case may be provided. 

Supervision of Communicable Diseases 

Following the reporting of cases of communicable disease, quarantine 
is established in certain cases for variable periods, depending upon the 
nature of the disease, by the posting of warning cards. The majority of 
patients are isolated in their homes, but in case there is difficulty of pro¬ 
viding such isolation the commissioner of health orders the patient to be 
removed to the detention hospital. 

Release from quarantine is permitted after the expiration of the 
minimum quarantine period, except that in cases of diphtheria two nega¬ 
tive cultures taken twenty-four hours apart are required before release is 
granted. The physician notifies the department on the expiration of the 
minimum quarantine period and the department sends the disinfector, who 
removes the warning placard, fumigates the premises and removes for 
sterilization such articles as may need more thorough disinfection. 

Under present procedure, no provision is made for visits by health 
department representatives during the quarantine period to see that proper 
precautions are being taken. This matter is left entirely to the private 
physician in charge of the case, except that the inspector who visits the 
premises to post the warning placard, leaves a copy of the health depart¬ 
ment rules and regulations. 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


343 


Special Investigation of Typhoid Fever Cases 

The nurse at the detention hospital is at present making an investiga¬ 
tion of each case of typhoid fever reported, there being no work to occupy 
her at the detention hospital. This is, of course, a very desirable proce¬ 
dure. Typhoid fever, in communities where the water is properly safe¬ 
guarded, is most commonly a milk-bone disease. No matter how care¬ 
fully the routine dairy inspection work is performed, there is also danger 
of contamination of the milk supply through the handling of milk by a 
typhoid carrier; that is, a person who has once had typhoid fever and 
still remains infected with the typhoid organism, but without showing 
symptoms of the disease. 

Assuming that the milk supply is the most obvious method of trans¬ 
mitting typhoid fever, the source of the milk supply should, in each case, 
be thoroughly investigated. Up to September 1, 1915, sixty-eight cases 
of typhoid fever were reported. All of these cases were investigated by 
the nurse. In filling out the data regarding the milk supply, however, 
the importance of finding out exactly where the milk came from has been 
overlooked. In several instances the information is given that the milk 

came from “store nearby,” “colored woman,” “-’s store,” “small 

store,” etc. This information is, of course, of no value. The card should 
show where the milk was produced if possible. This is difficult, of course, 
in the case of milk which comes from the large distributing plant which 
may be supplied by several dairies, but even in such cases it is not impos¬ 
sible to trace the milk, not to one definite source perhaps, but to several 
sources. In each case, a determined effort should be made to find out 
definitely not only where the milk came from, but also the method of 
handling it from the time of its production to the time of its consumption. 

Many times the information required regarding the milk supply was 
not entered upon the card. The health commissioner, therefore, has, in 
such cases, no data upon which he may base a study of the milk supply. 

The cards used for the investigation of typhoid fever furnish ample 
information if properly filled out. We would recommend, however, that 
in each case the source of milk supply be thoroughly investigated, A list 
of dairies should be prepared and each case of typhoid fever should be 
charged against the dairy from which the patient received milk, according 
to the month in which the case is reported. The following form for such 
a chart is suggested. 



344 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Typhoid Fever Cases Charged Against Dairies 1915 


Dairies 


Jan. | Feb. | Mar. | Apr. | May | June|July|Aug.!Sept.|Oct.|Nov.lDec. 


Fox Hall 
Model Dairy 
Holly Farm 
Jersey Dairy 
Star Farm 
Cloverdale 
Family Dairy 
Orange Grove 
Ingleside 
Lakeside 
Diamond 
Maple Grove 
Oak Grove 
Norfolk Dairy 
Eagle Farm 
Lamberts Point 
Riverside 
Cedar Grove 
Meadow Glen 
The Famous 
Oakdale 


With such a chart kept daily to date, the commissioner would have at 
all times before him the information necessary. He could see at a glance 
when the number of cases charged against any dairy became high or un¬ 
usual and could make at once an investigation to determine whether or not 
the dairy was at fault. This procedure is in effect in many health depart¬ 
ments and is found to be very effective in pointing out to the health officer 
where further investigation is needed. 

It must be sharply emphasized that these investigations of typhoid 
must be thorough and, if we may take the cards of investigation as made by 
the nurse as our index to the thoroughness of investigation, it is clear that 
they have not been sufficiently thorough. Not only should there be the 
preliminary investigation to secure the information called for by the card, 
but the investigator should visit each case du.'ing the progress of the 
disease to discover whether or not proper precautions are being taken 
to prevent the spread of the disease, by disinfection of discharges, 
screening from flies, safeguarding the food supply, etc. 

Control of Tuberculosis Inadequate; Tuberculosis 
Nurse Recommended 

Although the department is endeavoring to offer physicians every 
opportunity for the prompt diagnosis of tuberculosis and has in this way 
considerably increased the registration of that disease, it is by no means 
equipped to provide the supervision needed of cases of the disease existing 
in Norfolk. The prevention of tuberculosis requires more than the simple 
registration of disease. Each case should be considered by the health 
department in its relation to the welfare of the entire community. Tuber- 












DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


345 


culosis is particularly prevalent among the colored people, and the condi¬ 
tions existing in the homes of these patients are such as to make the 
spread of the disease very easy. Living as they do in squalid surround¬ 
ings, in rooms overcrowded, dirty and poorly ventilated, it is not to be 
wondered at that the disease is difficult to control. 

The most efficient way of handling such cases is, of course, to isolate 
them in an institution for that particular purpose, but, unfortunately, this 
plan is difficult of application, because of the fact that many may be de¬ 
pendent for their lives upon the patient’s work and earnings. Norfolk 
has but one institution where the tuberculous poor may be cared for, the 
City Home. Accommodations there are at present insufficient, although 
being increased as rapidly as funds are made available for the purpose. 
In view of the fact that the major part of the care of the tuberculous poor 
devolves upon the health commissioner, it is recommended that a nurse 
be employed at a salary of not less than $65 a month who can take charge 
of the tuberculosis prevention work for the department. The register of 
tuberculosis should be revised and brought up to date, and the nurse should 
begin a thorough canvass of the entire field. Attention should be directed 
particularly to those cases which are under no regular medical supervision, 
or are unable to pay for medical service. The city dispensary and clinic 
which will be discussed at greater length later in this report could be made 
to act as a clearing house for those cases which need more care than is 
now being given. The cost of such a nurse would be more than met by 
the gain in health control through prevention and cure of tuberculosis 
patients. 

Prevention of Ophthalmia Neonatorum 

Ophthalmia neonatorum, which is the most common cause of blind¬ 
ness in children, is a disease due to the infection of the babies’ eyes at 
birth. The disease is due to the same organism which causes gonorrhea in 
adults. It is preventable if the physician or midwife adopts proper pre¬ 
cautions at birth. It is impossible to say how many cases of this disease 
occur in Norfolk for, although reporting of the disease is required by 
the health department, it is practically certain that not all cases are re¬ 
ported. Many children are not attended at birth by either physician or 
midwife, and even when attended by physician or midwife, the precau¬ 
tions which should be observed are often omitted. As gonorrhea is no 
respecter of persons and is found even among the better classes, so 
ophthalmia may also be found. Gonorrhea is common among the negroes 
where the birth rate is high and where few of the ordinary restrictions 
of society are placed upon sexual relations. 

Two methods are suggested for securing better protection against 
this disease. It is recommended that each birth certificate require a state¬ 
ment from the physician or midwife that proper precautionary measures 
have been taken by the instillation of silver nitrate solution into the eyes of 
the baby at birth. Although this statement will not absolutely ensure that 
precautions are taken, it will at least call the attention of the physician or 
midwife to the necessity for it, and this will eventually mean better ob¬ 
servance of the procedure. To assist physicians and nurses in carrying out 
this procedure, it is recommended that ampoules of silver nitrate solu¬ 
tion be furnished them by the health department free of charge. This is 


346 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


now done in New York city and elsewhere at very small cost. These 
ampoules consist of a small container of wax hermetically sealed and car¬ 
rying one or two drops of a solution of siler nitrate. These ampoules, 
together with sterilized needles, are made into a small packet and dis¬ 
tributed free of charge to physicians and midwives on their application. 
To use these ampoules, a puncture is made in one end of the ampoule with 
the sterile needle and the solution is then squeezed out into the eyes of the 
new-born baby. This very effectively prevents the growth of the organism 
and in many cases saves the eyes of the baby. 

Disinfection Following Contagious Diseases 

The present procedure of the department is to fumigate all houses 
or rooms in which persons have been isolated under quarantine because of 
an infectious or contagious disease. The regulations of the health depart¬ 
ment relative to such fumigation are rigidly carried out in each case. In 
addition, such articles of bedding, clothing, carpets, hangings, furniture, 
etc., which cannot be thoroughly disinfected by ordinary room fumiga¬ 
tion, are removed by the chief fumigator in a wagon to the sterilizing plant 
and there subjected to a thorough sterilization by means of steam or for¬ 
maldehyde, depending upon the nature and condition of the articles. They 
are then returned properly protected against further contamination. 

The question of room fumigation following contagious disease is 
one which is now occupying considerable attention among public health 
officials. In New York city, all routine fumigation has been discontinued 
since the beginning of the present year. The results of this change of 
procedure are shown in the following statement of the New r York health 
department, from the weekly bulletin of the health department for August 
14, 1915. (Fumigation was first discontinued in the boroughs of Bronx, 
Richmond, Queens and Manhattan, but continued in boroughs of Brook¬ 
lyn as a control.) 

“It should be understood that in • discontinuing 
fumigation the department of health has laid increased 
stress upon the other and more efficient methods of 
disinfection, viz., thorough cleaning, fresh air and sun¬ 
light and particularly renovation (i. e., repainting and 
repapering) when necessary. That the depart¬ 

ment of health was justified in its action is shown by 
the figures given in the following table. There has been 
no increase in the prevalence of the various diseases; 
better and more efficient disinfection has been performed 
and the saving to the city has been at the rate of about 
$30,000 a year. 

In the borough of Manhattan, 193 later cases oc¬ 
curred among 3,451 primary cases of diphtheria (5.6 
per cent.). Of these, 171 or 4.9 per cent, would not 
have been affected by fumigation and 22 or 0.6 per cent, 
might have been so affected. 

In Brooklyn where fumigation was performed 
there were 138 later cases among 2,907 original cases 
(4.7 per cent.). Of these, 110 or 3.8 per cent, would not 



DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


347 


have been affected by fumigation and 28 or 0.9 per cent, 
might have been so affected. In other words, there were 
half again as many later cases in Brooklyn (which 
might have been affected by fumigation) where fumiga¬ 
tion was done as in Manhattan where it was not done. 

In the case of scarlet fever, the number of possi¬ 
bly preventable later cases was practically the same in 
the two boroughs, viz., 1.0 per cent, and .99 per cent., 
respectively. In Manhattan, 263 later cases occurred 
among 3,331 original cases (7.8 per cent.). Of these, 

229 or 6.8 per cent, would not have been affected by 
fumigation; 34 or 1.0 per cent, might have been so af¬ 
fected. In Brooklyn, 156 later cases occurred among 
2,206 original cases (7.0 per cent.). Of these, 134 or 6.0 
per cent, would not have been affected by fumigation 
and 22 or 0.99 per cent, might have been so affected. 

These figures show that the discontinuance of fumi¬ 
gation in diphtheria and scarlet fever in the boroughs of 
Manhattan, The Bronx and Richmond has not been fol¬ 
lowed by harmful effects. Terminal fumigation in in¬ 
fectious diseases will therefore be discontinued at once 
in Brooklyn." (This was done immediately following 
this report.) 

Milwaukee also has discontinued routine fumigation, and the health 
department sets forth its reasons in the bulletin of the department for 
June, 1915, as follows: 

“The health department has discontinued the prac¬ 
tice of fumigating cases of contagious disease. The 
department has decided, after careful investigation, that 
fumigation is of no particular value and that it is a 
waste of money. Furthermore, it becomes a real danger 
when it creates a false sense of security. That is, when 
formaldehyde candles are burned in a home, or when 
liquid formaldehyde or other fumigants are used, the 
family believes that, thereafter, it is perfectly safe from 
further infection .... Scrupulous cleanliness, fresh 
air, and sunlight are better disinfectants than any of the 
preparations that have been used for this purpose.” 

In the city of Rochester, N. Y., no routine fumigation of rooms fol¬ 
lowing contagious disease has been carried on for many years, and the 
results, as evidenced by Rochester’s health record, are proof of the health 
officer’s soundness of judgment. 

In 1914, the total cost of fumigation and sterilization in Norfolk was 
$3,485.52. Of this sum, $1,680 was spent for salaries of the chief fumiga- 
tor and his assistant. This cost included also the sterilization of articles 
at the sterilizing plant. In view of the needs of the health department 
for developing a health organization along lines of proven value, it is, 
therefore, recommended that routine fumigation following contagious 
diseases, except in those cases where the health officer feels that it has 
been impossible to surround the patient with proper safeguards during his 


348 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


illness, or when citizens especially desire fumigation, be discontinued. If 
citizens wish to have the health department fumigate after contagious 
disease, they should be allowed to have it done, but they should be required 
to pay the cost. A determination should be made of the cost of disinfec¬ 
tion including the cost of materials used and the time of the health de¬ 
partment's officer and payment of the sum determined upon should be re¬ 
quired in advance. 

It is not intended to do away with the present practice of removing 
and sterilizing at the health department’s plant all articles which may be 
badly contaminated. This is a useful procedure and should be continued. 

By the discontinuance of routine fumigation, the cost of this service 
could be reduced considerably, possibly one-third. This would relieve 
funds for other uses such as the employment of the registrar already sug¬ 
gested or for other purpose as the health commissioner may deem advisa¬ 
ble. The present chief fumigator could be dispensed with. Such work 
as might be required in the sterilization of household equipment, etc., 
could be performed by the present assistant to the chief fumigator who 
receives $600 a year. If it is desired to furnish room fumigation in certain 
cases, this could be done by the regular sanitary inspectors. 

The inauguration of this plan presupposes a reorganization of force 
so that there will be more adequate control of contagious disease during 
the progress of the disease. \Ve know definitely that in scarlet fever the 
virus is contained in the discharges from the mouth, nose and throat. 
The desquamation or “peeling” is not believed to be an infective agent 
unless contaminated by secretions. The same is true of measles. In the 
case of diphtheria, we know definitely what the organism is and where it is 
found, and we know also that the disease is spread through the discharges 
from the nose and throat. The obvious thing, therefore, in the prevention 
of these diseases, is to see that the discharges are properly taken care of. 
Terminal fumigation will not do this. Results can best be obtained through 
a visiting nurse who can go to the homes where the disease exists and 
instruct parents and the patient how to prevent the infection of others. 
This can be done better by such personal visits than by the simple distri¬ 
bution of the pamphlet now in use. Many of those to whom the pamphlet 
is given cannot read and many others will not take the trouble to read it. 
A competent, tactful nurse could not only explain what is needed but 
show what is needed and elicit the co-operation of the family and patient. 
The employment of a nurse to visit cases of contagious disease is there¬ 
fore recommended. The amount of contagious disease visiting which she 
would he required to do daily would be considerable at certain seasons 
of the year, and at such times she might be assisted by the tuberculosis 
nurse. She should visit each case as soon as it is reported and establish 
quarantine. She should then and there explain to the family and to the 
patient what the department of health wishes and she should show them 
how to do the things desired. At the termination of quarantine, she 
should again visit the patient and see that the room and the patient are 
thoroughly cleansed and that other precautions are taken. If, in her 
opinion, further disinfection is necessary she should so report to the health 
commissioner who may order done what may be needed before final re¬ 
lease. This procedure, it is believed, will furnish better protection at lower 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


349 


cost, the only additional cost necessary being the salary of the nurse at 
$780 a year. 

Reporting of Occupational Disease Urged 

Occupation plays a very important part in provoking or predisposing 
to disease and the study of industrial hygiene is now occupying a large 
share of the attention of health workers, public and private, throughout 
the country. Many health departments require that certain occupational 
diseases shall be reported to them in order that an investigation may be 
made which will show the particular conditions or surroundings responsi¬ 
ble for the disease and which will suggest methods for prevention. The 
sanitary code of the City of New York requires the reporting of poisoning 
by arsenic, bisulphide of carbon, brass, carbon monoxide, dinitro benzine, 
lead mercury, methyl alcohol or wood naphtha, natural gas and phosphorous 
as well as caisson disease. Report cards have been prepared and dis¬ 
tributed among physicians. As a suggestion to the Norfolk health de¬ 
partment, this card is reproduced. 


OCCUPATIONAL DISEASE REPORT 
OF THE 

HEALTH DEPARTMENT OF NEW YORK CITY 


Disease To Be Reported 
On This Card When 
Occupation is a Factor 
Tuberculosis 

Pneumonia 

Asthma 

Bronchitis 

Circulatory Disease: i. e. 
Arterio Selerosis 
Apoplexy 

Endocarditis 

Myocarditis 

Nephritis 

Skin Diseases 

Nervous Diseases 
Orthopedic Defects 

REPORT OF OCCUPATIONAL 
DISEASE 

Name 

Sex—M. F. 

Address 

Borough 

By Whom Employed 

Address of Factory 

Occupation 

Diagnosis 

Remarks 

Reported by.M.D. 

.Address 

.Borough 

Especially is it Required to 
Report Poisoning bv— 

Lead, Anthrax, Arsenic, 
Caisson Disease, Mercury, 
Bisulphide of Phosphorus, 
Carbon Bronze, Dinitro, 
Benzine, Wood Alcohol or 
Wood Anilin, Naphtha, 
Brass, Acids, Gases (Illu¬ 
minating, natural carbon 
monoxide). 

IMPORTANT—Information obtained 
will be used primarily for statistical pur¬ 
poses. All communications received will 
be kept strictly confidential No patient 
will be visited at his home or place of 
business without the consent of the phy¬ 
sician. Kindly inquire, in the diseases 
enumerated on this card, whether occu¬ 
pation is a factor. 

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, 
CITY OF NEW YORK, 
PREVENTABLE DISEASES. 









350 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


If such reports could be secured, and we believe that they could, if 
physicians were informed of the health department’s wishes and purpose 
in the matter, it would no doubt lead to the remedying of many defects in 
the sanitation of factories and other workshops in the city. Occupational 
diseases are, for the most part, preventable diseases if proper precautions 
are taken. As preventable diseases, they come therefore within the 
scope of the health commissioner. 

The conference of state and territorial health authorities with the 
United States public health service, previously referred to, recommends 
that the following occupational diseases and injuries be specified as 
notifiable: 

Arsenic poisoning, 

Brass poisoning, 

Carbon monoxide poisoning, 

Lead poisoning, 

Mercury poisoning, 

Natural gas poisoning, 

Phosphorus poisoning, 

Wood alcohol poisoning, 

Naphtha poisoning, 

Bisulphide of carbon poisoning, 

Dinitro benzine poisoning, 

Caisson disease (compressed air illness), 

Any other disease or disability contracted as a result of the 
nature of the person’s employment. 

Exclusion of Exposed Children from School 

When a house is quarantined, the officer of the department who 
establishes quarantine submits a report to the commissioner of the school 
attended by the patient or others at the same residence. The health com¬ 
missioner then immediately notifies the principal of the school or schools 
attended to exclude those children who have been exposed. Before chil¬ 
dren may return to school, they must obtain a certificate from the com¬ 
missioner of health. This practice is very carefully followed out and is 
effective so far as can be determined from the records available. There 
is, however, unfortunately, not always complete co-operation between the 
health commissioner and the school physicians who are employed by the 
school board. This matter is more thoroughly discussed in the section of 
this report on child hygiene. 

Prevention of Rabies 

As no special record is kept of cases of rabies, it is impossible to say 
to what extent this disease menaces the health of the community. The 
ordinance relative to the muzzling of dogs is not enforced and, as a result, 
hardly a day goes by that a complaint is not made that a dog has bitten 
someone. Not all persons bitten by dogs are in danger of rabies, but 
where dogs are allowed to roam about unmuzzled, no protection of the 
dogs themselves or of persons against rabies can be had. Facilities for 
holding animals suspected of rabies are inadequate, and the common pro¬ 
cedure is to shoot the animal at once and turn the body over to the health 
authorities who ship the head to the state laboratory for diagnosis. A place 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


351 


should, however, be provided at the dog pound where such animals could 
be kept under observation. Otherwise, the dog may be killed before 
the evidence of rabies in the dog’s brain have developed. First of all, 
there is the strict enforcement of the muzzling ordinance. All unmuzzled 
dogs should be seized and killed unless redeemed by the owners, except 
those which are suspected of rabies, and these should be held under obser¬ 
vation until it can be definitely determined whether or not the animals 
have rabies. 

Vaccination Law Enforced 

The department is to be congratulated on the positive stand which 
it has taken as regards vaccination and upon its efforts to see that the law 
is observed. Norfolk has been remarkably free from smallpox during the 
past year, and it is largely due to the activity of health officials that this 
has been brought about. At the opening of school, the health department 
office is extremely busy with the vaccination of school children. The city 
physicians are on duty every day during this period for the purpose of 
vaccinating the school children. A certificate of vaccination issued by 
the health department must be presented at the school before the child 
is admitted. 

Records of Contagious Diseases 

A daily register of reportable diseases is kept in which each case is 
listed under the following headings: Name of patient, disease, physi¬ 
cian reporting—date posted, date fumigated and remarks. Cases are 
entered in this record in the order in which they are reported. Special 
records containing the laboratory findings are kept for tuberculosis, 
diphtheria, typhoid fever, gonorrhea. These are filed upon small cards 
according to the street location of the case. Each day a typewritten report 
is made up from the register of diseases and this is placed upon the com¬ 
missioner’s desk in the morning, together with the daily report of the 
quarantine officer regarding premises quarantined and the names of and 
schools attended by children living at the premises quarantined, so that the 
health commissioner may be advised as to the situation with reference 
to the school children affected. 

There is, however, no single record which shows the status of each 
case from beginning to end of departmental control. The information 
contained on the register is incomplete and must be supplemented by the 
report of the quarantine officer. In order to give the health commissioner 
a daily typewritten statement, the memoranda in the register must be 
copied. This is an unnecessary duplication of work. It is suggested that 
a contagious disease daily blotter be used in which the diseases may be 
entered in the order in which they are reported. This blotter should be 
in loose leaf form so that it may be placed upon the commissioner’s desk 
each morning, and then filed in chronological order in the loose leaf cover. 
The accompanying record form for this loose leaf register is suggested 
as a guide. 

This general form should be modified to meet the particular needs 
of the health commissioner, but this is the minimum information which 
should be required. The procedure in filling out this record may be out¬ 
lined as follows: The clerk or other person receiving the report enters 


352 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


the disease, name of the patient, age, sex, color, address and the name 
of the physician, all of which information is contained upon the report 
card. The nurse who visits the home to quarantine it reports the fact of 
establishment of quarantine, school attendance, and such other data as 
may be necessary regarding sanitary conditions, etc. At release from 
quarantine, the nurse who revisits the home reports that release has been 
made and also, under the head of “results,” whether or not complete 
recovery resulted. Laboratory reports regarding the various diseases 
should be entered under the proper headings. 

In addition to the above record, the card reference index for each 
disease now kept should be continued. These cards should be filed by 
street addresses. 

The present method of keeping a daily record of the prevalence and 
location of the various diseases by pin maps is an excellent one and should 
be continued. 

Port Quarantine a Federal Function 

Although the federal government maintains a quarantine station at 
Cape Charles, the state still continues to exercise a limited control over 
quarantine through its state officer. In addition, there are the quarantine 
commissioners, three of whom are appointed by council. It is believed 
that port quarantine is a federal function and that all possible quarantine 
functions of the port should be transferred to federal control. With 
regard to those coastwise vessels which are not required to secure 
pratique from the federal authorities, local health regulations should be 
sufficient. It would be far preferable to place this responsibility upon the 
Norfolk health officer than to continue it under the present control. The 
present system of federal, state and municipal quarantine does not fix 
complete responsibility upon anyone, and the result has been frequent 
conflicts in authority. 

In the chart of the purposed department of welfare, no provision has, 
therefore, been made for the present quarantine commissioners. 

Child Welfare 

Infant Mortality Rate High in Norfolk 

According to the records of the health department, 285 babies died 
during the first year of life in 1914. The total births during this period 
were 1,492. The infant mortality rate of Norfolk, that is, the number ox 
babies that die under one year out of each 1,000 born, was, on this basis, 
191 in 1914. It is clear, however, that if the number of births registered 
had been increased, this infant mortality rate would have been considera¬ 
bly diminished. The present infant mortality, calculated as above, is 
very high as compared with other American cities and points to two very 
serious defects in health control: first, the lack of proper birth registra¬ 
tion, and second, the lack of definite infant welfare work. 

A comparison of Norfolk’s infant mortality rate with that of other 
cities is illuminating: 


daily record of transmissible diseases 


Date.— 


.191 _ 
















































































' 








' • ■ 


r ” ’ Ki 































DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


353 


Deaths of Infants Under One Year Per 1,000 Births" 



Deaths 

per 1,000 Births, 1914 

Cities 

(In 

fant Mortality Rate) 

St. Paul 


79.5 

Minneapolis 


82.7 

New York 


94.4 

Indianapolis 


102.2 

Boston 


103.4 

St. Louis 


103.4 

Jersey City 


105.1 

New Orleans 


112,2 

Providence 


112.7 

Pittsburgh 


115.2 

Philadelphia 


117.6 

Buffalo 


121.5 

Detroit 


122.4 

Chicago 


132.7 

Baltimore 


154.6 

Norfolk 


191. 


Infant mortality rates mean much to public health authorities for 
they indicate where health work is defective, not only in birth registra¬ 
tion, but also in the actual prevention of infant mortality. If Norfolk 
could increase its birth registration from GO per cent, to 100 per cent., the 
infant mortality late would be immediately reduced about 75 points and 
the publication of comparative infant mortality rates would not show 
Norfolk in such a bad light. In many of these other cities where infant 
mortality rates are low, the conditions with which health officers have 
to contend do not present such great difficulties as in Norfolk, but, if we 
compare several southern cities where the problem is very much the same, 
it will be seen that these difficulties are not insurmountable. Richmond’s 
infant mortality rate in 1913, according to the report of the New York 
Milk Committee, was 162.1 per thousand ; Birmingham, Ala., 120.8 ; Louis¬ 
ville, Kv., 129.2; Nashville, Tenn., 127.8. Norfolk’s infant mortality rate 
is higher than any of these. 

The reasons for a high infant mortality rate in Norfolk are numerous. 
They may be briefly enumerated as follows: 

1. Inadequate birth registration. This does not raise the actual 
infant mortality rate, but it is obvious that the fewer births reported the 
higher the apparent rate, for the infant mortality rate is the ratio between 
deaths under one year and the total births. 

2. The large percentage of negro population. In 1914, although 
the negro population is only 35 per cent, of the total, 193 or G7 per cent, 
of the 285 babies who died during that year were colored. The reason 
for this is clear. The negro babies are born amid insanitary surround- 


*The rates given in this table are taken from an article “Recent Pub¬ 
lic Health Work in the United States Especially in Relation to Infant 
Mortality,” by Dr. Joseph S. Neff, in the American Journal of Public 
Health, October, 1915. 

(23) 



354 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


ings; they are attended in the majority of cases at birth by ignorant mid¬ 
wives; many of them are illegitimate and the value placed upon their 
lives, even by their parents, is not high. 

3. Inadequate milk standards. Gastro enteritis in infants is due 
to faulty diet, and, as the natural food of babies under one year is milk, 
any contamination of milk is likely to cause gastro enteritis. Examina¬ 
tion of the bacteriological counts of milk shows that there is need for the 
adoption of more rigid standards. (See section on Dairy Inspection.) 
Breast milk is the best food for babies, but a very great many babies, 
particularly negro babies, are reared on the bottle. Among the negroes, 
a cheap variety of condensed milk is often used in preparing artificial food. 

The health commissioner has been trying to get some definite infor¬ 
mation regarding the number of babies who are breast fed and the num¬ 
ber bottle fed. tie has tried to get the co-operation of physicians by. re¬ 
questing this information in the death certificates of infants. An examina¬ 
tion of 50 deaths of infants under two years shows the following: 

a. Eight babies were breast fed. 

b. Nine babies were bottle fed. 

c. One baby was “mixed” fed, that is, on both breast and bottle. 

d. Thirty-two certificates gave no information as to whether 

babies were breast or bottle fed. 

It is obvious that better co-operation by physician is needed. If this 
information is needed by the health officer, it should be given, and if it is 
not given, the registrar or person in charge of the death certificates should 
see that physicians supply it. 

4. Inadequate health department organization. This is the chief 
reason for the high infant mortality rate in Norfolk. Other cities have 
found that by organization and by carrying forward a definite educational 
campaign for prevention, hundreds of babies may be saved. There have 
been no failures, for in every city where a thoroughgoing program for 
the prevention of infant mortality has been carried out the results have 
been notable. 

A Plan for Better Organization for Child Welfare 

The medical inspection of school children is under the direction of 
the school board and is in no way under the supervision of the health 
commissioner. Five medical inspectors are employed for 10 months. 
Four of these inspectors receive $40 a month, and one receives $50 a 
month, a total yearly payroll of $2,100. Five school nurses are employed 
at salaries of $65 a month for a ten-month period, giving a total nurses’ 
payroll of $3,250. 

.No attempt was made in this survey to study the efficiency of this 
service, the school board not being included in the survey. So far as 
could be learned from physicians and others more or less familiar with 
school work, the time of physicians and nurses is directed to the discovery 
of possible physical defects and the notification of parents that defects 
exist. Little effort is made to follow up cases to see that the defects are 
remedied. Without such follow-up little can be accomplished. It is 
obvious that unless something is done to correct the defects discovered 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


355 


no considerable gain in health of school children can be made. School 
physicians make an annual survey of all school children at the beginning 
of the year and also make subsequent visits to the schools occasionally. 
They are not required to devote any definite amount of time to the service. 

In order that the school health work may be brought into close 
co-ordination with other health activities, the following plan is recom¬ 
mended : the health commissioner should be given complete charge of all 
school work. The number of physicians should be reduced from five to 
two, and the two physicians retained should be paid the same rate as is 
now paid to the city physicians of the health department, viz: $1,200 per 
year. This would mean an increased cost of $300, as under the present 
plan $2,100 a year is paid for the five physicians under the school board. 
The five nurses should be retained and should be paid at the same rate 
now allowed, namely, $05 a month, but they should give year-round ser¬ 
vice instead of 10 months’ service. This would mean an increased cost 
for nurses of $050. The total increased cost for physicians and nurses 
giving year-round service under the direction of the health commissioner 
would be $950. 

The advantages of this plan are numerous. In the first place, it 
would give the commissioner of health an opportunity to work out a 
health program, which would include school health work co-ordinated with 
all other health activities. The health commissioner would have under his 
direction instead of four city physicians, as at present, six city physicians, 
who could be so districted that they could do not only the school work 
but also the work in care of the city poor. He would have a staff of 
eight nurses, including the nurse of the Detention Hospital, the tubercu¬ 
losis and contagious disease nurses recommended, and the five school 
nurses. The school nurses under this plan would do not only such school 
work as might be required, but would follow up cases in their homes to 
see that physical defects were corrected. They would be available for 
use in the program of infant welfare, which will later be recommended, 
and using their schools as centers could carrv on an organized and effec¬ 
tive community welfare work. Instead of the ten-months’ service now 
given they would give year-round service. This is particularly desirable 
because the summer months, during which they are now off duty, are the 
months in which infant welfare work is most needed. During these 
months, there being no school work, they could devote their entire time to 
the supervision of midwives, visiting homes where babies are born, and 
instructing mothers in care of themselves and their babies, visiting homes 
for infants and day nurseries, and co-operating with physicians and others 
in the care of the sick. All this would be gained at a total increased cost 
of only $950 a year. 

Need for Better Supervision of Midwives 

The register of midwives in the records of the health department 
shows that 39 colored and 7 white midwives are practicing in Norfolk 
under permission from the commissioner of health. Of these 46 midwives, 
only 4 have had any special training in their profession. Permits to 
practice midwifery were issued after a personal interview of each mid¬ 
wife by the health commissioner. The commissioner has, under the ordi¬ 
nance, power to refuse such permit “in any case when in his judgment it 


356 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


is not advisable to grant the same.” Neither in state or city is there, 
however, any standard of examination or qualification of midwives. With¬ 
out such standard the health commissioner has no method of determining 
fitness, and, without an adequate force of nurses for visiting midwives, he 
has no way of finding out the conditions and methods of their practice. 

A plan has already been suggested for using nurses in a “follow-up” 
campaign among midwives, but it is most important that we have some 
method of examination and qualification of midwives. The following 
plan is suggested: that an ordinance be passed creating a board of ex¬ 
aminers of midwives, this board to be selected by the Norfolk Medical 
Society, the health commissioner to be a member of this board, and that 
all midwives be required to qualify upon examination before this board. 
It is recommended that such a board prepare a course of lectures in mid¬ 
wifery practice for midwives. At the conclusion of this course, all mid¬ 
wives should be examined on the subject matter of the lectures and only 
those midwives who pass the examination should be licensed. This would 
give all midwives now practicing an opportunity to qualify. Midwives 
would not be required to attend the course of lectures, but, since their 
examination and subsequent qualification would be based upon this course 
of lectures, all would attend. As a result of this plan, many midwives 
would doubtless be eliminated. The qualified midwives would, of course, 
from self-interest seek to protect themselves from any encroachment in 
their field by unlicensed midwives. This would mean a vast improvement 
in control. In the city of Rochester, N. Y., this plan has been in force for 
about twenty years. The number of midwives has been reduced to nine 
for that city of 235,000 inhabitants—and all of these midwives are com¬ 
petent and trustworthy. 

The elimination of the good midwife is not sought, for the midwife 
is believed to be a necessary institution. However, the ignorant, dirty 
midwife should be eliminated and the practice so regulated by the proposed 
board that many of the existing evils will be done away with. No addi¬ 
tional cost to the city is contemplated except that the members of the 
board, health commissioner excepted, be paid a nominal fee for conducting 
lectures and examinations. If the board is made up of two physicians 
and the health commissioner, the physicians should be paid for attendance 
at meetings of the board at the rate of $5 for each attendance. This would 
cost the first year about $200, the estimate being based upon the number 
of days required for the course of lectures, which is estimated as ten, 
and one regular meeting of the board each month. 

The board should have authority to investigate all complaints and 
allegations of malpractice, and should have the power of imposing fines 
and penalties and of revoking licenses. The Rochester plan is clearly 
set forth in the law which is a state act, rather than a local ordinance. 
1 here is, however, no reason why this could not be made an ordinance in 
Norfolk. The state registrar of Virginia says: 

“In answer to question No. 1 (re rules and regula¬ 
tions governing the practice of midwifery) any old 
negro or white woman can call herself midwife and start 
to work. We have about 8,000 on our list and many 
more are being added by local registrars. There is no 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


357 


inspection of midwives and no schools. It is estimated 
that about 50 per cent, of newly born are delivered by 
. midwives. We contemplate trying to get legislation.” 

Norfolk should, however, not wait for state legislation which cannot 
be depended upon. In the absence of any state legislation, the plan above 
outlined could be put into effect immediately. If subsequently there is 
state legislation on the matter, a modification of this plan to meet the 
state’s requirement could be made. 

The special act of the New York State legislature relative to the city 
of Rochester is herewith appended as a suggestion of what is needed in 
Norfolk. 

AN ACT 

REGULATING AND RESTRAINING THE PRACTICE OF MID¬ 
WIFERY IN THE CITY OF ROCHESTER, BY OTHERS 
THAN LEGALLY AUTHORIZED PHYSICIANS 

The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and 
Assembly, do enact as follows: 

Section 1. On or before the first day of July, 
eighteen hundred and ninety-five, the Mayor of the City 
of Rochester, shall appoint a board of examiners in mid¬ 
wifery to consist of three members, two of whom shall 
be regularly qualified physicians and surgeons of at least 
five years’ practice, who together with the Health Offi¬ 
cer of said city (ex officio) shall constitute such Board, 
and thereafter as often as any vacancy shall occur in 
said Board, said Mayor shall fill such vacancy. 

The members of such Board other than the Health 
Officer, shall receive as compensation for their services, 
the sum of ten dollars each for each day necessarily 
given to the performance of their duties. Such compen¬ 
sation shall be paid by the City Treasurer of said city 
out of the general fund of said city as may be set apart 
for the contingent expenses of said city and shall be paid 
on an order of the Common Council of said city, after 
due proof of such services being rendered. The terms 
of office of the members of such Board, other than the 
Health Officer, shall be for three years each. 

Section 2. Immediately after such appointment 
said Board shall organize by the selection of one of its 
members as president, and of another as secretary and 
treasurer, and who shall hold their office for one year 
and be thereafter annually elected, and shall adopt and 
have power to adopt and enforce such rules and regula¬ 
tions as are necessary to carry out the purposes and 
provisions of this act. 

Section 3. Such examiners shall meet on the first 
Tuesday of October and April in each year, and on such 
other days as such Board may appoint in the City of 


358 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Rochester after due notice thereof is publicly given, and 
shall then examine all candidates of the age of twenty- 
one years and upwards who shall present themselves 
to be examined, as to their moral character and qualifi¬ 
cations to practice midwifery and shall on receipt of ten 
dollars, issue their certificates to any person so ex¬ 
amined, who shall be found by them to be qualified, 
which certificate shall set forth that said Board has 
found the persons to whom it is issued, qualified to prac¬ 
tice midwifery in the City of Rochester, and such cer¬ 
tificate shall be recorded by the Clerk of the said City 
of Rochester, in a book to be kept for that purpose. All 
moneys going into the treasury of this Board shall be 
turned over to the City Treasurer of said City and by 
him credited to the Contingent Fund of said City. 

Section 4. Any person who has received and re¬ 
corded such certificate shall thereupon be designated a 
midwife, and authorized and entitled within the City 
of Rochester to practice midwifery in cases of normal 
labor, and in no others ; but such persons shall not in 
any case of labor, use instruments of any kind, nor assist 
labor by any artificial, forcible, or mechanical means, 
nor perform versions, nor attempt to remove adherent 
placenta, nor administer, prescribe, advise or employ 
any poisonous or dangerous drug, herb or medicine, nor 
attempt the treatment of disease except where the at¬ 
tendance of a physician cannot be speedily procured, . 
and in such cases, such persons shall at once and in the 
most speedy way procure the attendance of a physician. 

Section 5 . Said Board of examiners shall have 
power, on proper cause shown, and after giving hear¬ 
ing to the person holding their certificate, to recom¬ 
mend to the Mayor of the City of Rochester the re¬ 
voking of the same, and said Mayor shall have power to 
revoke such certificate and license. 

Section 6. Any person who shall practice, or 
without the attendance of a physician where one can 
be procured, attend a case of obstetrics within the City 
of Rochester, after the 31st day of December, eigh¬ 
teen hundred and ninety-five, without being duly auth¬ 
orized so to do under existing laws of this State or 
without having received and recorded the certificate 
provided for by this act, and any person who shall vio¬ 
late any of the provisions of this act shall be guilty of a 
misdemeanor and on conviction thereof shall be fined 
not less than fifty dollars nor more than one hundred 
dollars, and shall forfeit any certificate therefor, granted 
under the provisions of this act. 

Section 7. This act shall take effect immediately. 

Need For Infant Welfare Stations 

The need for thorough birth registration has been discussed; a plan 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


359 


has been proposed for better supervision of midwives and for a re¬ 
organization of the school health service so that its nurses may be used 
in carrying on a campaign against infant mortality by instructing mothers 
in the importance of breast feeding and in the care of babies. 

The next step is the establishment of infant welfare stations where 
mothers may receive advice and aid and where they may bring their sick 
babies for consultation with nurse or doctor. The establishment of such 
stations need entail no additional expense. They should be in the school 
houses in those districts where such service is most needed. As a be¬ 
ginning, it is suggested that the schools be used in summer only if there 
is difficulty in securing space during the school session. The health de¬ 
partment nurses should be in charge of these stations, which should be 
open certain hours during the day. Physicians would no doubt be willing 
to volunteer their services in attending these clinics provided too much 
were not asked of them. The report of the Special Public Health Com¬ 
mission of the State of New York which was appointed by the governor 
of the State to make suggestions for the modification of health laws, 
states in its report in 1913: “Each city with a population in excess of 
10,000 and having an industrial population should have one infant wel¬ 
fare station and larger cities with an industrial population should have 
one station for approximately each 20,000 inhabitants.” On this basis, 
Norfolk should have at least four infant welfare stations. 

Co-Operation With School Children 

When once this plan for the reduction of infant mortality is put into 
operation, it will be very easy to bring the school children into active co¬ 
operation with the health authorities. Dr. Josephine Baker, chief of the 
division of child hygiene of the New York health department, attributes a 
large share of her success in the reduction of infant mortality to the 
service rendered by the “Little Mother Leagues” of school girls. The 
little mothers are taught how to take care of the babies and how to 
prevent them from becoming sick. Some such plan should be carried out 
in Norfolk. 

The school boys, many of whom are already banded together as 
“bov scouts,” should be organized in the school as a sanitary force to 
assist the health commissioner in carrying out his program for health. 
The importance of having the school physicians and nurses who could 
assist in such organization under the control of the health commissioner 
is apparent. 

Dental Clinic 

Proper care of the teeth is unquestionably one of the most important 
factors in the conservation of the health of school children and in conse¬ 
quence of the health of the community. Mere examination of the teeth 
is not sufficient, for experience has taught medical inspectors that unless 
some provision is made for correcting defects of teeth no improvement, 
or very little improvement, results. Many progressive cities have estab¬ 
lished dental clinics where the teeth of needy school children may be 
treated free of charge. This is suggested as a next step in the develop¬ 
ment of thorough medical supervision of school children in Norfolk. 


360 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Care of the Sick Poor 
Present Procedure and Facilities 

Four city physicians at salaries of $1,200 a year each are required 
to visit the sick poor in their homes and to treat such sick poor as may 
call at their offices. One physician has the Berkley district one has all 
territory east of Church St., one all west of Church St., and the fourth 
attends the city dispensary to do the surgical work necessary and has 
charge of the bacteriological laboratory of the department. 

In addition to the above physicians who are responsible to the health 
commissioner, a physician to the City Home is employed under the 
supervision of the board of control. He receives a salary of $1,200 and is 
required to do all the emergency work referred to him by the police, to 
visit and care for such surgical cases as may be sent to the city hospitals, 
and also to visit the City Home daily. 

Private physicians may receive the city’s aid in caring for their poor 
patients through the city dispensary, which puts up such prescriptions 
as they order free of charge. The sick poor who are completely incapaci¬ 
tated and for whom there is no other method of care are sent to the City 
Home. 

City Dispensary an Extravagance 

Under the present procedure physicians write prescriptions upon 
blanks furnished them by the health department. No restrictions are 
placed upon the physicians in writing prescriptions and the department is 
in duty bound to furnish whatever is called for, provided the patient is 
a bona fide charity patient, as certified by the physician. The result is 
that the health department maintains a complete drug store, for it must 
have in stock all the drugs which a physician might possible prescribe. 
Many of these prescriptions not only contain from four to six ingredients, 
but the compounding of them requires considerable time. It is on this 
account that the necessity for two apothecaries has arisen. 

That this is an extravagant way of handling this matter is evident. 
The total cost of the dispensary in 1914 was $5,200; of this amount $2,500 
was for salaries and $2,690 for drugs. It is believed that this cost can 
be reduced at least one-half and provision made for better service under 
the following plan: 

A full-time physician should be placed in charge of the dispensary 
at a salary of $1,800 a year. Many young physicians could be found who 
would be glad to devote their entire time to such service, having in mind 
the value of the experience to be gained. The dispensary should be kept 
open from eight until six. The dispensary physician should also be 
charged with the emergency work for the police and all police cases 
should be brought directly to the dispensary. It is conveniently located 
for such purposes. This would take the entire matter of emergency police 
work out of the hands of the present police surgeon. Under the present 
arrangement there is difficulty in finding the police surgeon at times, so 
that in many cases the city physicians are required to attend in his place, 
This is unavoidably so because the police surgeon has his own practice 
to look after. With a full-time medical officer in charge of a properly 


DEPARTMENT OF PIEALTH 


361 


equipped emergency room during regular hours and on call at all other 
times, no such difficulty would be encountered. 

The present practice of allowing physicians to write their own pre¬ 
scriptions should be discontinued. If physicians wish to have patients 
treated at the city’s expense, they should be sent to the dispensary where 
the dispensary physician may examine and prescribe for them, just as is 
done in any proper dispensary service. The stock of drugs on hand 
should not be large. A formulary should be prepared and stock prepara¬ 
tions made up. The physician in charge of the dispensary should write 
only for such preparations as are kept in stock. Not only could the 
quantity of drugs and the cost thereof be cut fully one-half, but under this 
pian only one apothecary would be needed. Whenever necessary during 
the hours of the dispensary service, the physician could relieve the apoth¬ 
ecary. 

Present Conduct of Dispensary Inefficient 

The present method of conducting the dispensary does not reflect 
credit upon the city. The physician’s quarters are inadequate, poorly 
equipped and very dirty. Utensils were found to be dirty, windows dirty, 
and the floors and walls dirty. The paper hung in shreds from the ceiling 
and cobwebs were everywhere evident. One dirty towel was seen on 
the physician’s desk and the apothecary stated that the physician was 
allowed only six towels a week, or one a day. No person with self-respect 
would care to visit such an office more than once. 

The same condition of uncleanliness and lack of order was observed 
in the waiting room for white patients. The chairs were broken and 
stood among piles of boxes, bundles and cans. Floors, walls and windows 
were dirty. In the waiting room for colored people conditions were some¬ 
what better, but even here the lack of proper management was evident. 
A cabinet on the wall contained bottles and boxes of drugs, such as 
aconite, strychnine, corrosive sublimate, nitroglycerine and other dan¬ 
gerous drugs. The door of this closet was unlocked, nor was there any 
way of locking it. It was certainly as easy of access to the patients as to 
the investigator. 

In the pharmacist’s prescription laboratory the same disorder pre¬ 
vailed. Through lack of shelf room and cabinets for drugs, bottles, jars, 
pails, cans and boxes were piled on desks, on the floor, in the sink and 
everywhere possible. The apothecary himself stated that time was lost 
and his work made difficult because of this confusion of stock. 

It is evident that immediate steps should be taken to remedy existing 
conditions at the city dispensary. Much could be done by the simple ap¬ 
plication of the broom, and soap and water. With the adoption of the 
plan proposed for discontinuing the present “drug store, it might be 
possible to find space for the needed stock which would be considerably 
less than that now required. It would then be possible to keep all drugs 
in the apothecaries’ prescription room and a clear floor space in other 
rooms. It is not believed that an enlargement of quarters would be ad¬ 
visable until the whole place is cleaned up and put in order. 

If the reorganization is made as proposed, it would be necessary 


362 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


perhaps to spend a small amount of money in equipping the physician’s 
office with table, chairs, instruments, etc. This could be done at a cost 
not to exceed $100. In 1914 the cost of dressings for patients sent to the 
city hospitals by the police surgeon amounted to $821. Doubtless many 
of these dressings could have been done at the city dispensary, had provi¬ 
sion been made for such service. As previously stated, under this plan 
all police cases should be taken at once to the city dispensary where the 
doctor may be found on duty. After hours, the doctor should be on call 
at his residence or wherever he may be. Dressings which may be made at 
the dispensary should be applied and the patient sent to his home, to the 
hospital, or elsewhere, as the doctor may direct. 

Duties of Police Surgeon 

Under the plan herewith proposed, the police surgeon would be 
continued at the same salary which he now receives. He would, however, 
be placed under the direction of the health commissioner and his duties 
should be to make visits to the City Home as at present and to take com¬ 
plete charge of all city surgical cases in the city hospitals. Under a 
definite requirement of increased service on the part of this officer (see 
section of report on City Home) medical work at the Home and also 
supervision of city surgical cases in the hospitals would be greatly im¬ 
proved. 

Dairy Inspection 
General Methods of Control 

The city of Norfolk is to be congratulated and the health department 
commended on the improved supervision of the milk supply through the 
use of the dairy score card and upon the adoption of the tuberculin test 
of dairy cattle. There are twenty-four dairies, each of which is scored 
once a month. Dairies scoring below sixty are excluded from the city. 

The tuberculin test is applied to all dairy cattle before milk from such 
cattle is permitted to come into the city. The tuberculin tests are made by 
local veterinarians at the expense of the cattle owner, and test sheets 
showing the reaction of each cow to the test are submitted to the health 
commissioner, who makes sure that diseased cows are excluded from the 
herd. 

Retail milk stores are inspected either by the dairy inspector or the 
food inspector. These places are, however, not scored. 

Samples of milk are taken from the various dealers and turned over 
to the laboratory where they are examined both as to bacterial content 
and chemical constituency. 

More Comprehensive Milk Standards Needed 

Norfolk has no definite bacteriological standard of milk. As a 
result, milk is sold in Norfolk which is extremely high in bacterial con¬ 
tent. Fortunately a large percentage of milk is distributed through one 
dealer who pasteurizes all milk received by him. We should not, however, 
allow pasteurization to be a substitute for clean milk. The use of the 
dairy score card is a step in the right direction, but definite bacteriological 
standards should also be adopted. As previously stated, the enforcement 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


363 


of proper milk standards is an important factor in the prevention of 
infant mortality. Milk high in bacterial content is dirty milk and unfit 
for consumption, particularly by children. 

The producer of milk who by careful attention to methods of pro¬ 
ducing milk attains a high rating as regards dairy scoring, and provides 
milk which is low in bacterial content, i. e., clean milk, is, under the 
present system, no better ofif so far as the sale of his milk is concerned 
than the producer who is careless and uncleanly. The establishment of 
definite grades of milk and the classification of producers according to 
the grades of milk produced are very essential parts of the program for 
milk control. The man who produces clean, wholesome milk should have 
an opportunity to sell his milk at a higher price. Such grading of milk 
according to dairy score, bacterial content, etc., would mean a general 
raising- of the entire milk standard, for the producer’s financial interest 
is at once made of importance, and the man who produces a low grade 
milk will be very anxious to have his milk grade higher in order that he 
may sell it for more money. 

The following definitions or specifications for the various grades of 
milk are taken from a paper on the “classification of market milk,” by 
Dr. A. D. Melvin, chief of the bureau of animal industry of the United 
States department of agriculture (Hygienic Laboratory Bulletin No. 56, 
second edition, 1912, entitled “Milk and its Relation to the Public Health," 

pp. 608-610). 

Class 1—Certified Milk 

The use of this term should be limited to milk pro¬ 
duced at dairies subjected to periodic inspection and the 
products of which are subjected to frequent analyses. 

The cows producing such milk must be properly fed and 
watered, free from tuberculosis, as shown by the tuber¬ 
culin test and physical examination by a qualified veteri¬ 
narian, and free from all other communicable diseases, 
and from all diseases and conditions whatsoever likely 
to deteriorate the milk. They must be housed in clean 
and properly ventilated stables of sanitary construction 
and must be kept clean. All persons who come in con¬ 
tact with the milk must exercise scrupulous cleanliness 
and must not harbor the germs of typhoid fever, tubercu¬ 
losis, diphtheria, or other infections liable to be conveyed 
by the milk. Milk must be drawn under all precautions 
necessary to avoid infection and be immediately strained 
and cooled, packed in sterilized bottles, and kept at a 
temperature not exceeding 50° F. until delivered to the 
consumer. Pure water, as determined by chemical and 
bacteriological examination, is to be provided for use 
throughout the dairy farm and dairy. Certified milk 
should not contain more than 10,000 bacteria per cubic 
centimeter, and should not be more than twelve hours 
old when delivered. Such milk should be certified by 
public health officers or by some other properly con¬ 
stituted authority. 


364 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Class 2—Inspected Milk 

This term should be limited to clean raw milk from 
healthy cows, as determined by the tuberculin test and 
physical examination by a qualified veterinarian. The 
cows are to be fed, watered, housed, and milked under 
good conditions, but not necessarily equal to the con¬ 
ditions prescribed for class 1. All persons who come in 
contact with the milk must exercise scrupulous cleanli¬ 
ness and must not harbor the germs of typhoid fever, 
tuberculosis, diphtheria, or other infections liable to be 
conveyed by the milk. This milk is to be delivered in 
sterilized containers and is to be kept at a temperature 
not exceeding 50° F. until it reaches the consumer. It 
should contain not more than 100,000 bacteria per cubic 
centimeter. 

Class, 3—Pasteurized Milk 

Milk from dairies which do not comply with the 
requirements specified for classes 1 and 2 should be pas¬ 
teurized before being sold, and should be sold under the 
designation “pasteurized milk.” Milk for pasteurization 
should be kept at all times at a temperature not ex¬ 
ceeding 60° F. while in transit from tlie dairy farm to 
the pasteurizing plant, and milk after pasteurization 
should be placed in sterilized containers and delivered 
to the consumer at a temperature not exceeding 50° F. 

All milk of unknown origin should be placed in 
class 3 and subjected to clarification and pasteurization. 
No cow in any way unfit for the production of milk for 
use by man, as determined upon physical examination by 
an authorized veterinarian, and no cow suffering from a 
communicable disease should be permitted to remain on 
any dairy farm on which milk of class 3 is produced, 
except that cows which upon physical examination do 
not show physical signs of tuberculosis, may be included 
in dairy herds supplying milk of this class. 

This milk is to be clarified and pasteurized at central 
pasteurizing plants, which should be under the personal 
supervision of an officer or officers of the health depart¬ 
ment. These pasteurizing plants may be provided 
either by private enterprise or by the municipality, and 
should be located within the city. 

By the term “pasteurization” as used herein, is 
meant the heating of milk to a temperature of 150° F. 
or 65° C. for twenty minutes, or 160° F. or 70° C. for 
ten minutes, as soon as practicable after milking, in 
enclosed vessels, preferably the final containers, and 
after such heating immediate cooling to a temperature 
not exceeding 50° F. or 10° C. 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


365 


Other Conditions 

No milk should be regarded as pure and whole¬ 
some which, after standing for two hours or less, 
reveals a visible sediment at the bottom of the bottle. 

No dairy farm should be permitted to supply milk 
of a higher class than that for which its permit has 
been issued, and each dairy farm supplying milk of a 
specified class should be separate and distinct from any 
dairy farm of a different class. The same owner, 
however, may supply different classes of milk, provid¬ 
ing the dairy farms are separate and distinct. The term 
“milk” as herein used includes cream.” 

The foregoing method of grading milk is suggested for consideration 
by the Norfolk health department. 

Retail Stores Should Be Scored 

All stores selling milk should be regulary inspected and scored by 
the dairy inspector. No matter how proper the conditions under which 
milk is produced, the important thing is the condition in which it comes 
to the consumer. Under faulty conditions of handling in the retail milk 
store, milk, which was originally clean and wholesome, may become con¬ 
taminated and unfit for consumption. The health department already has 
a record of these stores, for all are required to secure permits before 
being allowed to sell milk. It would therefore not be a difficult task to 
have a complete record or score of each store. 

Publication of Dairy Scores and Bacteria Counts 

If the plan recommended for the grading of milk is not adopted 
immediately, some device for enabling citizens to learn where they may 
secure clean milk should be adopted. It is, therefore, recommended that 
all dairy scores, together with the bacteria counts of milk, be published 
in the daily papers. This would mean, first of all, that citizens would be 
given a basis for judgment in deciding upon their milk dealer. It would 
also mean that the dealer who produced milk in a low scoring dairy and 
milk high in bacterial content would be forced to raise his standard, if 
he would compete with better dairies. The health department is created 
to protect the public and the best way to do so is by helping the public 
to understand how it may protect itself. 

If the plan for the grading of milk is put into effect it would not 
be necessary to publish dairy scores and bacteria counts. All milk sold 
would be plainly marked with its grade and the buyer would know just 
exactly what kind of milk he was buying. 

Food Inspection 
Additional Force Recommended 

Only one food inspector is employed for the entire city. The thorough 
inspection of all food-producing, manufacturing or handling establish¬ 
ments is obviously an impossibility. This inspector is an efficient 
employee, but the magnitude of the task which he has been set to perform 
makes" the results obtained insignificant. On Saturday he is detailed to 


366 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


the city market and there in a limited field he has produced some results 
that can be seen—but his impression upon the entire field of the city is 
negligible. 

It is therefore recommended that an additional inspector be employed, 
at a salary of $1,020 a year, who should be selected upon merit and not 
with a view to pensioning some old city employee or physically disabled 
veteran. The inspector should be a young man and as active as a police¬ 
man or fireman is supposed to be. He need not have any special training 
or experience as a butcher, baker or green grocer, but he should be 
intelligent, observant and honest. 

Plan for More Thorough Inspection 

At the present time no record is maintained of the inspections made 
by the food inspector unless a condemnation of food results. A card 
record is then made of the premises visited and the quantity of goods 
condemned. This, of course, gives absolutely no information regarding 
the sanitary conditions of the premises nor does it suggest to the health 
commissioner what should be done to remedy defects in the method of 
handling food. The following plan is proposed: 

Each food store for which inspection is required should be listed. 
The inspectors should then visit each store and score it on special score 
cards designed for the particular kind of store. As soon as all the stores 
are scored they should be graded on some such plan as follows: 

A—Stores scoring 90-100 should be A grade stores. 

B—Stores scoring 80-90 should be B grade stores. 

C—Stores scoring 70-80 should be C grade stores. 

D—Stores scoring 60-70 should be D grade stores. 

It would require considerable effort to score all of these places and 
grade them at the beginning, but when once they were scored, the amount 
of routine inspection required would be greatly diminished. A grade 
stores, for example, would be stores which in all probability would be A 
grade stores as long as they remained under the same management; 
the character of the patrons of such stores would ensure their cleanliness. 
These stores could, therefore, be practically eliminated from routine 
inspection. B grade stores would require inspection at infrequent inter¬ 
vals. After the first inspection and the pointing out to the proprietor 
what was needed to raise his store from a B grade to an A grade, the 
proprietor would doubtless take such steps as were needed to raise him 
to the higher grade. C and D grade stores would need more frequent 
inspection, and on these stores the work of the inspectors should be 
concentrated. That is to say, the work should be done where the need 
exists and not distributed so thinly over the entire field. By this plan 
possibly one-third or even more of the routine inspection could be done 
away with, and, when once put into effect, two inspectors would no doubt 
be able to cover the entire field. 

The score card records of these stores would furnish the commis¬ 
sioner with complete and accurate information regarding the sanitary 
conditions of the store and the methods of producing, manufacturing, 
storing and handling food. He could put his finger on the exact place 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


367 


where improvement might be needed just as he is informed by the dairy 
score card as to the dairy’s needs. 

Method of Filing Score Cards and 
Inspectors’ Assignments 

Files should be kept for each grade of store inspected. Score cards 
should be arranged in the files according to street location. As fast as 
a store meets the department’s requirements for a higher grade, it should 
be transferred to the file of the higher grade, the inspection field thus 
being constantly reduced. 

No inspector should be allowed to go out without definite assignment. 
He should receive each morning an assignment to make inspections and 
rescore all stores within a certain definite locality, the names of the 
stores being given him, and his report should show that he has completed 
his assignment. The hit-or-miss method of sending an inspector out as 
a free lance to roam about the city and possibly find something wrong is 
inefficient. Unless an inspector is intelligently directed and checked, his 
work is bound to deteriorate. 

Sanitary Inspection 

Improved Organization Recommended 

At the present time the six sanitary inspectors of the department are 
entirely unsupervised in the field. They have assignments to make such 
special investigations as may be necessary and then to continue on house- 
to-house inspections within the territory assigned. The only record of 
their work in the field is the daily report which tells practically nothing 
except that an inspector made certain visits during the day. It is impossi¬ 
ble to check the inspector’s work from such a report and unless the work 
of an inspector is constantly checked up and constantly supervised it 
becomes a mere perfunctory routine which is of little value in improving 
sanitary conditions. 

Sanitary conditions in Norfolk are in many quarters of the city 
extremely bad. No one knows this any better than the health commis¬ 
sioner, but, hampered as he is by lack of resources, little can be accom¬ 
plished. The necessity in future appointments of selecting young and 
active inspectors has already been stated, but even with the present staff 
better results can be obtained if a chief sanitary inspector is appointed to 
supervise in the field the work of the six inspectors. The deputy health 
commissioner, who is now wasting' his time from force of circumstances 
in answering inquiries, running to the telephone, and performing minor 
clerical work, which should be performed by a clerk at less salary cost, 
should be made chief sanitary inspector and given complete charge, under 
the direction of the health commissioner, of all field sanitary inspection. 
He should be held responsible for results and given an opportunity to 
lay out the work of his squad. 

Method of Handling Complaints Should Be Improved 

At the present time complaints are received by any one who happens 
to be in the office when the complaint comes in. This person jots down 
the principal facts regarding the complaint in a daybook and one of 


368 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


the inspectors takes his assignments for complaint investigation from 
this book in the morning before going into the field. If the complaint 
is one requiring immediate investigation, one of the sanitary inspectors 
who is detailed to office duty attends to the complaint. If the inspector 
finds no cause for action on his visit, no further record is made. If he 
finds cause for action, he makes out a notice on his return to the office 
giving the owner or agent a certain number of days in which to make 
the necessary improvement. These notices are made out in duplicate, one 
copy being sent to the owner or agent and one copy being retained by the 
inspector for reference so that when the time limit expires he mav make 
a reinspection. When complied with, the copy of the notice is filed by 
street location as the permanent record of the case. 

The serious defect in this plan is that there is not in any one place 
a complete record of the complaint and its subsequent handling by the 
department. All the facts regarding complaints, their investigation and 
reinvestigation should be readily available to the chief inspector so that 
he may direct the work of his men understandingly. A daily register 
of complaints should be kept by one of the office clerks. This daily 
complaint record should show the following facts regarding each 
complaint: 

Nature of complaint. 

Complainant. 

Address of complainant. 

Name of person receiving the complaint. 

Name of inspector to whom the complaint is assigned. 

Date of inspector’s investigation. 

Findings on investigation. 

Date notice served and time allowance (if no cause for action, 
it should be so stated). 

Name of owner or agent upon whom notice is served. 

Address of owner or agent. 

Date reinvestigation is made. 

Name of inspector making reinvestigation. 

Result of reinvestigation in abatement of nuisance, prosecution 
or other action. 

This sheet, which is a daily sheet designed for binding in a loose-leaf 
record book, should be placed on the chief sanitary inspector’s desk 
daily. He could then tell at a glance what has been done, what com¬ 
plaints remain open and how the further work of his inspectors should 
be arranged. 

As soon as a complaint record is completed a card record should be 
made which should be filed according to the street address of the 
premises inspected. This card index method of registering complaints 
lias already been determined upon bv the department, but owing to lack 
of clerical force has not yet been put into effect. 

The practice of allowing inspectors to send out the notices should be 
discontinued. The inspector's work should end when he has made his 
investigation and report. Notices should be sent out by the chief inspector 
as the representative of the health department, for the chief inspector 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


369 


is better able to determine what action the department should take. When 
the inspector has made his daily report with recommendations regarding 
the complaint, the daily report should be placed on the chief inspector’s 
desk and he should send out the notices, allowing such time for abate¬ 
ment of nuisances as he may deem necessary. 

These notices will accomplish their purpose better if, instead of the 
present peremptory notice, a courteous form letter is sent to the owner 
or agent. If he fails to respond to such a letter, peremptory demands 
may then be made, but co-operation on the part of citizens is sought 
rather than opposition, and if the department’s demands are not expressed 
in such mandatory terms co-operation is much more likely to be brought 
about. Copy of such letter should be preserved as evidence in case of 
prosecution that notice was properly served. 

Methods of Checking Work of Inspectors 

The daily reports of inspectors do not show where their time was 
spent. The daily report form used is not only an unnecessarily large 
sheet 8^"xl7", but does not give the facts necessary for the chief 
inspector or other supervising officer to determine where his men were 
at any time during the day. As they are not sent out on definite and 
specific assignments it is impossible for him to locate them. No inspector 
should be sent out except on definite assignment. If it is house-to-house 
inspection, he should be given directions regarding it and his daily report 
should show that he has followed directions. 

It is suggested that an assignment slip be given each inspector each 
day which will indicate where he is to go on complaint investigation 
and also on house-to-house inspection. Some such form as the following 
is recommended; this to be placed on tbe inspector’s desk each morning. 
(Form has been partially filled out to show use.) 


MEMORANDUM OF ASSIGNMENT 

INSPECTOR DATE 

Premises to be Inspected 

Purpose of Inspection 

—Granby Street 

Plume Street 

From— 16 th St. E. 
to— 16 th St. W. 

Complaint—weeds in vacant lot 
“ —insanitary premises 

House-to-house inspection of yards 
and premises 

Chief Inspector. 


If such memorandum were made out in duplicate, and the copy 
retained by the chief inspector, he would be able to locate an inspector 
within a short time, for the inspectors should be required to follow the 
order of their assignments absolutely and any deviation from the assign¬ 
ment should be made the subject of special note on their daily reports. 


(24) 













370 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


The daily report form recommended is simply a card or slip in some 
such form as below: (The suggested form has been partially filled out 
to show the method of use.) 


INSPECTOR 


Daily Report 

(Use reverse of this sheet 
if necessary) 

DATE 

Time 

Premises 

Reason for 
Inspection 

Remarks 

8:30 

• 

—Granby 

Complaint 

Weeds very bad—notice 

8:50 

—Plume 

Complaint 

Filthy condition of back 
yard—notice 

9:00 

—16th St. E. 

_ “ “ W. 

House-to-house 

a a a 

No cause for action 

a a u a 


If as a result of inspection a more detailed statement of findings is 
necessary, the inspector should make a special report (supplementing the 
daily report memorandum) upon a form which may be attached to the 
daily report. As a suggestion for this special report form the form below 
is offered. 


SPECIAL REPORT 


INSPECTOR DATE 



Premises J 

Special Information 

$ $ $ $ $ $ $ 

^ \J. xj/ xj* xg x|/ xj/ xj. xj# x|. 


This report should be of the same size as the daily report and should 
be clipped to it when turned in to the office. 

House-to-House Inspection 

Properly supervised, this method of inspection produces very satis¬ 
factory results. The inspectors should, however, be assigned by districts 
and their progress marked on a street map so that the chief sanitary officer 
may see at a glance the extent of territory covered. This can be done 
by blocking in the streets in black ink as the inspection progresses. The 





























DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


371 


chief inspector states that the work of sanitary inspectors was formerly 
plotted in this way, but that the pressure of detail work and clerical routine 
made it difficult for him to keep it up to date. 

Use of Police as Sanitary Inspectors 

The co-operation of the police in the enforcement of sanitary regula¬ 
tions is essential to good control, and in Norfolk the police department 
co-operates readily with the health department. The present procedure is 
for the police to report nuisances to the board of control. The board of 
control then writes a letter to the health department stating the nature 
of the complaint. When the department has completed its action with 
reference to the complaint, the commissioner of health or his deputy 
writes a letter to the board of control stating what action has been taken. 

This is an unnecessarily roundabout procedure. In their daily rounds 
the policemen see many conditions obviously requiring the attention of 
the health department. Policemen should be given copies of the health 
ordinances and rules, and should be required to render reports of their 
findings directly to the health department on special forms designed for 
that purpose. If necessary, further investigation could be made by the 
sanitary inspectors of the health department. This plan is being used in 
several cities. Dr. S. S. Goldwater, commissioner of health of New York 
City, says: “Of all the city employees, the policeman, from the very nature 
of his duties and the circumstances under which he works, comes into 
the closest personal relation with the people. He should be the first to 
notice insanitary conditions and to do his part toward their betterment, 
either by personal effort or by reports to other city departments charged 
with the control of such matters. Already the moral guardian of the 
community, he should keep an eye on its health and surroundings." In 
New York City arrangements are being made to provide in the curriculum 
of the training school for policemen, courses of lectures on health topics. 
Similar procedure could be put into effect in Norfolk by requiring police¬ 
men to familiarize themselves with the local ordinances and regulations 
relative to health. 

Laboratory Service 

Laboratory Service Commendable 

The laboratory of the health department is rendering exceptional 
service to the physicians of the community in the diagnosis of disease, and 
the resultant betterment of the control of communicable diseases through 
the establishment of early diagnoses is worth far more than the cost Of 
laboratory service. Under the plan already recommended for placing 
the dispensary service in charge of a full-time physician, the bacteriologist 
who is required to spend about two hours daily at the dispensary would 
be relieved of this duty and would be able to devote his time to efforts to 
extend the laboratory service. If the supervision of the health of school 
children is taken over by the health department and the plan for better 
supervision of tuberculosis patients by visiting nurse is adopted, there 
will be in all probability an increase of bacteriological work. 

Considering the fact that the bacteriologist is a part-time officer, it is 
esstential that the time which he spends in city service be almost exclu¬ 
sively confined to laboratory work. 


372 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Hospital Service 

“Clean-Up” at Craney Island; Isolation Hospital Recommended 

Although this island and the buildings on it belong to the United 
States government, which contemplates taking possession of it for its own 
use shortly, it is very probable that the government will not insist upon 
its evacuation by the Norfolk health authorities. At all events there is 
need for a general “clean-up” at Craney Island. In the various buildings 
used for the reception and care of patients—fortunately now unoccupied 
by smallpox cases—beds, bedding and utensils have been left exposed 
to the action of air and water. It is true that the beds are cheap and 
the bedding is of poor quality. Facilities are, however, at hand on the 
island for the sterilization of bedding and such articles. Following their 
use, they should be sterilized and stored in a clean, dry place until the 
necessity for use again arises. Beds should be taken down and stored 
and springs wrapped so that they may be protected from rust. Beds and 
bedding so handled would be usable for a long period. The time when 
there are no patients to care for is just the time to attend to such work. 

The buildings are all in a bad state of repair owing to the action of 
wind and water. There is, however, no excuse for allowing the buildings 
to become an eyesore. An occasional thorough housecleaning would at 
least make them presentable and the application of soap and water, paint 
and whitewash would assist materially in their preservation. The genera! 
impression received on a visit to Craney Island was that there was lack of 
efficient supervision. As an instance, in the kitchen of one of the large 
brick buildings a pile of unwashed dishes was found on the table, evidently 
left there since the last smallpox patient’s departure. Good management 
would have seen that these dishes were washed and put away for 
future use. 

Is is believed that the proper handling of property and equipment at 
Craney Island would mean a considerable economy to the city, for 
bedding, beds and other equipment deteriorate rapidly when not properly 
stored. 

Detention Hospital Excellent 

Although it was not possible to see the detention hospital while in 
actual use by patients, it is believed that this hospital is capable of 
rendering very efficient service. The cleanliness, orderliness and general 
evidences of good management at this hospital offered a decided contrast 
to conditions at Craney Island. No criticism can be offered of this 
hospital except perhaps in the matter of records. The record of patients 
is kept in a memorandum book and gives little information except as to 
the facts necessary for identification. There is no record of physical 
examination on admission or subsequent symptoms and treatment. 

The importance of having adequate history records of patients should 
not be overlooked. Adequate treatment of hospital patients depends 
largely upon their condition on entrance, and there should be a complete 
record of this condition. Not only is this important from the standpoint 
of treatment, but also as a measure of protection for the city against 
action which might be brought against it for supposed maltreatment 
while in the hospital. The city is responsible for the proper care of the 


DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 


373 


individual under its charge and it should therefore have complete record 
of all that takes place with reference to such an individual. 

It is recommended that the ordinary hospital records be installed 
and that these records be indexed and filed in such a way that they may 
be available for future reference. No elaborate system is perhaps needed 
at the present time, but as time goes on there will be need for some record 
system which will enable the records to be easily available. 

Health Publicity 

Improved Monthly Bulletin Recommended 

The department is to be commended for its efforts to keep the public 
informed of the service which it renders and is prepared to render in 
protecting the health of the community. The weekly bulletin, news 
articles, and special pamphlets which the department issues are all effective 
aids in promoting public health. The chief difficulty with the bulletin 
is that its circulation is limited largely to physicians in the city and other 
health departments throughout the country. The problem is to reach the 
people of Norfolk, and to reach those in private organizations who are 
doing co-operative health work. To do this without increasing expense 
means making certain changes in the bulletin. 

The bulletin should be cut down from a folder 8" x 11" to a folder 
6" x 9". Much of the material now carried in the bulletins could well be 
eliminated. The first page should contain as now a brief, timely, to-the- 
point article or item of general health interest. The summary of the 
causes of death, with the classification of deaths according to the various 
age groups should be retained, but the classifications by “Social Relation” 
and “Nativity” may be discontinued, for neither of these classifications 
offers anything of importance to the public. The summary of contagious 
diseases by wards should be continued. No very valuable information 
is obtained by the summaries of “Medical Attendance of the Sick Poor,” 
“Bacteriological Division,” “Examination of City Water,” “Disinfec¬ 
tions,” and “Food Inspections,” “Food Condemned and Destroyed,” and 
“Nuisances Abated by Sanitary Officers,” and these should make way for 
matter of more popular interest. 

The summaries of “Dairy Inspections” and of “Milk Examinations” 
should be continued, but the statements regarding the bacteriological 
analysis of milk should be as specific as the dairy scores. The bulletin 
should state plainly where the milk comes from. It is certainly important 
for the citizen to know where milk high in bacterial count is produced, so 
that he may avoid it. 

By the elimination of so much unimportant matter, more space would 
be left for real genuine health information. Clippings or exchanges from 
other health departments, and original -articles on timely topics such as 
milk, child welfare, typhoid fever, birth reporting, etc., will keep the 
people in touch with local health needs and stimulate co-operation with 
the health program. 

The bulletin should be distributed as widely as possible—to physi¬ 
cians, nurses, civic and social organizations, public libraries, public school 
teachers, and to as many private citizens as possible. The effectiveness of 


374 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


such an instrument depends wholly upon its circulation, and the wider the 
circulation, the greater the benefits. 

Sanitary Code and Rules and Regulations 

The sanitary code should be arranged in convenient form and pub¬ 
lished for the benefit of inspectors, policemen and citizens in general. It 
is safe to say that not one inspector out of five could pass an examination 
on the sanitary code, and yet he is dealing every day with matters which 
the sanitary code regulates. The rules and regulations of the department 
should also be printed with the sanitary code and this work should be 
given as wide general distribution as possible, particularly among those 
who are concerned with these regulations, and among the various organi¬ 
zations for community welfare. 

Annual Report Should Be Issued 

Xo special value can be given to an annual report which is merely a 
summary of statistical data. We believe, however, that an annual report 
should be issued by the health department which will show what has been 
accomplished during the year past and what is proposed for the coming 
year. For example, a report would be worth while if it showed: That a 
considerable reduction has been made in infant mortalitv due to changes 
in procedure and increased effort on the part of the health officer and his 
assistants: that the milk standards had been improved by the grading 
and thorough inspection of milk; that sanitary conditions throughout the 
city had been improved and that citizens’ complaints were being properly 
cared for. These are all things that an official and also the public should 
know. Neither officials nor the public are interested in the fact that 
several thousand laboratory examinations, food inspections or sanitary 
inspections were made, for these figures cannot be interpreted in terms 
of their effect on community health. An annual report that tells what 
has actually been accomplished in health protection and education is 
worth much to a city, and that is the kind of an annual report which 
should be published in Norfolk. 

Public Health Exhibits 

The public health exhibit is also an effective method of awakening 
public interest. The health department should conduct an occasional 
exhibit, not for the purpose of glorifying its own work, but to show the 
citizens what preventive health work is, and how they may assist in the 
work. An exhibit which would show the dangers of flv contamination of 
milk and other foods, methods of destroying mosquitoes, proper methods 
of infant care, prevention of contagious diseases, etc., would be worth 
far more than its cost, and would require little effort on the part of the 
commissioner and his assistants. 


CITY VETERINARIAN 


375 


City Veterinarian 





CITY VETERINARIAN 


377 


CITY VETERINARIAN 

City Veterinarian Should Be Under the Proposed Bureau of Health 

Although certain objections have been raised to placing the city 
veterinarian under the health department on the ground that in order 
to enforce the ordinances relative to meat inspection the veterinarian must 
be supreme in authority, and that political pressure and influence cannot 
hamper his work when he is independent of other city departments, 
careful study of the situation leads to the belief that this work can be 
better carried on under the supervision of the health authorities where it 
may be co-ordinated with other health activities. 

In the first place, protection of the meat supply is obviously a health 
function. Tuberculosis, trichinosis and other parasitic diseases of food 
animals are transmissible to man—and it is the function of the health 
department to control transmissible diseases. Other diseases of animals, 
such as anthrax and glanders, are also transmissible to man directly, and 
their prevention and control in animals are therefore health functions. 

The correlation of the work of the city veterinarian with that of 
other health activities is particularly important in the control of tubercu¬ 
losis in dairy cattle. Under the present system, tuberculin tests ot dairy 
cattle are made by private veterinarians and the records of such tests are 
turned over to the health department. But of the subsequent disposition 
of those animals which have been found diseased the health department 
has no record. Some of them doubtless find their way into the market 
and on to the tables of the consumers. There should he no weak links 
in this chain of control of diseased cattle, and there would not he if the 
city veterinarian were placed under the supervision of the health officer 
and required to report directly to him. 

No great weight should he given to the argument that political 
pressure may be brought to bear upon the city veterinarian if he is placed 
under the health department’s control. The possibilities of pressure being 
brought to hear are just as great under present circumstances. Moreover, 
the efifect of having the whole matter one of open record is now altogether 
lacking. 

Ordinance Should Be Revised 

The meat inspection ordinance states that ‘‘no beef shall be sold, 
exchanged, given away or offered for sale or exchange, in the city of 
Norfolk, except such as shall have been: (a) inspected and passed, or 
exempted from inspection, under the laws of the United States or the 
State of Virginia, or (b) taken from cattle slaughtered on the premises 
whereon it has been kept continuously for twelve months immediately 
preceding, or from the time it was calved.” This section of the ordinance 
is taken from the federal law relative to the inspection of cattle slaughtered 
for interstate commerce. It should not, however, apply to local meat 
inspection. The city of Norfolk has the right to regulate its own meat 
inspection service, and any such provision that meat taken from cattle 
slaughtered on the premises whereon it has been kept continuously for 
twelve months preceding or from the time it was calved shall be exempted 
from inspections, vitiates the whole procedure of protection of the meat 
supply. Under the regulation, any farmer who has raised his own cow 


378 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


or had a cow in his possession since it was calved may sell the meat from 
such an animal openly in Norfolk, no matter what its condition. No 
inspection of such meat is demanded. Through this loophole doubtless 
much contaminated and diseased meat may come into the city. 

The federal law was not intended to be thus applied. It relates 
solely to interstate commerce and not to local commerce, and a local 
ordinance based on this federal law is bound to be defective. The city 
veterinarian stated that he believed that any law requiring more than the 
federal government required would not be practicable. The federal 
government does not, however, impose any restrictions upon communities 
to regulate their own business. So long as the community does not 
attempt to make laws relative to interstate commerce which are counter 
to the federal laws, the federal government has no concern. 

The ordinance should require that no meat shall be sold or offered for 
sale in Norfolk which has not been inspected and passed, either by the 
inspectors of the federal government or by the local inspection service. 
The ordinance states also that the city veterinarian “shall also inspect all 
such other food-producing animals, or the meat therefrom, which may 
be distributed or offered or intended for distribution in said city.’’ The 
city veterinarian does not, however, inspect any meat except beef, 
although the inspection of pork and other meat is an important part of a 
meat inspector’s duties. 

Plan for More Thorough Meat Inspection 

To carry out any such provision that no meat shall be sold or offered 
for sale in the city unless it has been inspected and passed by either the 
federal inspection service or the local inspection service, requires a change 
in procedure. 

Fortunately, the greater part of the meat slaughtered for sale in 
Norfolk goes through one of the two slaughter-houses where it may be 
inspected by the veterinarian. There should, however, be some means 
provided for inspecting meat which does not go through either of these 
two slaughter-houses. A municipal abattoir offers one solution of this 
problem and this is advocated by the city veterinarian in his annual report. 
Evidence as to the benefits accruing from the conduct of a municipal 
abattoir may be obtained from the commissioner of health of Wilmington, 
N. C., who has operated successfully a municipal abattoir for the past 
year. Other cities have had similar success in conducting municipal 
abattoirs in such a way that thorough meat inspection is provided and 
a profit made for the city. 

An alternate plan is, however, suggested for immediate application. 
An office should be established by the health department at a convenient 
location in the business section of the city. Here a veterinarian shoidd 
be on duty for certain hours of the day, say from 6 A. M. to 12 M. All 
meat which has not been inspected at slaughter-houses should be brought 
to this office and there inspected and passed or condemned. The penalty 
for having unstamped meat in their possession should be so high as to 
deter dealers from buying surreptitiously meat which has not been 
inspected and which does not bear the stamp either of federal of local 
inspection. 


CITY VETERINARIAN 


379 


To carry out such a plan as here suggested, there should be two 
veterinarians. One should be in charge of all slaughter-house inspections 
and the care of city animals just as at present. The other, who may be 
designated as assistant veterinarian, and who would be in charge of the 
city meat inspection station, may be a part-time employee and should 
receive a salary of not more than $1,200 per year. Such a city meat 
inspection plan is now in operation successfully in Denver, Colo. Mer¬ 
chants in Denver have learned that it is an extremely dangeious business 
to have in their possession meat which has not been inspected. The 
putting into effect of this plan would certainly furnish much more thor¬ 
ough control of the problem. The cost entailed would be the salary of an 
additional part-time veterinarian and the rental of space for his inspection 
office. Space might be provided in some part of the present market 
building. 

Consent of Owner Before Destruction of Contaminated Meat 
Unnecessary 

There is difficulty in condemning meat unfit for human consumption 
owing to the provision of the local ordinance, which requires that the city 
veterinarian must secure the consent of the owner before he may destroy 
the meat condemned. This provision is a source of considerable dispute 
between the veterinarian and the owners of the condemned meat. Such 
a provision is entirely unnecessary. The city veterinarian should have the 
right in protecting the health of the community to condemn and dispose 
of all diseased or otherwise contaminated meat. If the city veterinarian 
were acting as a health department official, he would have the right to 
condemn and destroy unfit food without restriction under the broad 
powers granted by tbe health ordinance. When once the meat inspector 
or veterinarian has condemned a piece of meat, he should forthwith 
destroy it or otherwise render it incapable of being used for food purposes. 

In no city have we observed a regulation comparable to this one in 
Norfolk. The New York city regulation or provision of the sanitary 
code is quoted here as a type of the provision which should be enforced 
in Norfolk: 

“Upon any cattle, sheep, swine, or other animals, 
fowls or other birds, meat, fish, vegetables or milk, or 
other food or drink being found by any inspector or 
other duly authorized representative of the department 
of health in a condition which renders it or them, in his 
opinion, unfit for use as human food or in a condition 
or of a weight or quality forbidden by provisions of tbe 
sanitary code, such inspector or other duly authorized 
representative of the said department is hereby empow¬ 
ered and directed to immediately condemn it, and, when 
possible, denature tbe same and cause it or them to be 
destroyed, etc.” 

Slaughter-House Regulations Should Be Published 

The two slaughter-houses under the supervision of the city veteri¬ 
narian were visited by the investigator and found to be in good condition 
at the time of visit. As the visit was made on a day when very little 
work was being done, it was impossible to determine the facts as to the 


380 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


cleanliness and methods of work. Certain evidences of thoroughness in 
regulations are, however, lacking. In the first place, no definite regula¬ 
tions have been promulgated by the city veterinarian relative to slaughter¬ 
houses. The requirements of the city veterinarian are promulgated by 
word of mouth only as the city veterinarian may deem necessary. This is 
too uncertain. Without definite printed and published regulations, it is 
impossible to compel observance, for slaughter-house proprietors cannot 
be convicted of violations of verbal orders which are unsupported by 
evidence that the proprietors have been informed regarding the regula¬ 
tions. It is recommended, therefore, that definite regulations be prepared 
relative to the cleanliness and sanitation of the slaughter-houses, the clean¬ 
liness of employees and their methods of work. These regulations should 
be definitely stated and posted in the slaughter-houses so that all employees 
might be informed. These regulations might then be rigidly enforced. 
The federal government publishes and advocates the use of score cards 
for slaughter-house inspection based on certain minimum requirements. 
The slaughter-house regulations should be based on the requirements of 
this score card and the slaughter-houses should be scored accordingly. 

Improved Methods of Record-Keeping Recommended 

The city veterinarian makes a monthly report to the board of control 
and also an annual report. These reports are also published in the daily 
papers. Aside from the fact that they state the quantity of beef con¬ 
demned during the month or year, they give little information regarding 
the service rendered by the city veterinarian. From observation of his 
activities, it is believed that the city veterinarian is rendering excellent 
service in protection of health, but, as previously stated, no attempt is 
made to inspect anything but beef. The information regarding diseases 
of cattle which he obtains from his examination of slaughtered animals 
is, however, important, just as it is important to know all about the 
diseases of human beings—and further it is important to his supervising 
officer to know definitely what is being accomplished. 

The only record book now kept relative to the inspections made by 
the city veterinarian is a memorandum book which contains only the 
following facts: 

Date. 

Name of proprietor of slaughter-house. 

Total cattle killed. 

Diseased condition—parts condemned. 

Name of diseased parts condemned. 

Whole carcasses condemned. 

As a record of service, this memorandum is of little value. The 
inspectors of the federal government are required to fill out for each 
diseased animal slaughtered a blank form showing the nature of the 
disease, location of the disease, the part diseased, and all other facts 
relative to the condemnation. In case of a dispute regarding any con¬ 
demnation, absolute evidence is available. It is recommended that 
some such record forms be used by the veterinarian meat inspectors of 
Norfolk. The publication of all the facts regarding the diseased condi¬ 
tions found in animals slaughtered for food purposes would be of great 
value in educating the public in regard to the necessity for thorough 
inspection. 


CITY HOME 


381 


City Home 



CITY HOME 


383 


CITY HOME 

City Home Should Be Under Proposed Department of Welfare 

In order that the work of the City Home may be correlated with that 
of the work of the health department, both should be under one control. 
In the general reorganization plan elsewhere recommended in this report, 
a department of welfare is recommended. The City Home should be 
included in this department, the medical work of the institution to be 
under the direct supervision of the health authorities. 

Records of Medical Service Lacking 

Although the physical appearance of buildings and grounds presents 
evidences of excellent management which are supported by the records of 
cost of the institution, it is believed that insufficient attention has been 
given to the care of the inmates themselves. This is a matter of opinion 
largely because there are no records which will show actually what sort of 
medical care patients have received. 

The city physician visits the institution daily, but there is no record 
which shows the amount of time which he spends at the institution; 
there are no medical records or histories, nor are there any records of 
medication or other treatment. It is, therefore, absolutely impossible to 
tell how much is being done for the sick inmates of the home. No records 
are kept which will show the number of inmates able to work and the 
number not able to work. 

Improved Medical Service Recommended 

At the present time, the physician to the City Home is also the police 
surgeon. In previous pages of this report, it has been recommended that 
the work now done by this officer for the police be done by the full-time 
physician recommended for the dispensary. The physician to the City 
Home would thus be relieved of a large part of his present work and, in 
place of the police work, he should be given supervision of surgical cases 
sent to city hospitals. His work would then include attendance at the 
City Home and the supervision of all surgical cases sent to city hospitals. 
With the additional medical service to be recommended, the amount of 
work required of the city physician at the City Home would be consider¬ 
ably increased. This increase would, however, he offset by the decrease 
of work required as regards his attention to surgical cases in city hospitals 
instead of the police work which he now does. 

Physician to City Home Should Be Under Health Bureau 

For the more complete co-operation of the physician to the City 
Home in the general health program, it is recommended that he be placed 
under the control of the health officer. The patients at the City Home, 
many of whom are the victims of tuberculosis, should certainly be under 
the supervision of the health authorities. It is logical, therefore, that the 
physician who attends them should also be under the health authorities. 
He would then have the same rank as other city physicians and could be 
used in emergency in precisely the same way. 

Physical and Mental History Should Be Taken on Admission 

It is obvious that before a person is put to work at the City Home 


384 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


some effort should be made to discover, beyond the individual’s own 
statement, just what work he is capable of doing. It is also important that 
an effort be made to find out what the mental condition of the patient 
may be so that he may receive the sort of care and treatment which his 
condition may warrant. 

Few men or women will work unless they are made to work, and }-et 
about any such institution there is always plenty of work of one kind or 
another. No person should be allowed to remain idle when there is work 
to do, for this is not only a waste of labor, but also is productive of 
phyiscal and mental deterioration on the part of the individual. The 
method of determining who are able to work and who are not able to 
work by merely asking the inmates themselves is not satisfactory. There 
is only one adequate way of getting at the facts. When a person is 
admitted to the home, the physician should make a complete and thorough 
physical and mental examination of the patient and should determine how 
that person may best be employed if he is capable of working. The results 
of these examinations should be entered upon permanent record cards 
which may be used also for further memoranda relative to the inmate. 
If a man is fitted for heavy farm work, it should be so stated; if lighter 
work only can be performed, the type of work for which he is suited 
should be specified. 

Need for Classification of Mental Deficients 

No attempt has been made to classify or in any way to segregate 
the mentally defective in the City Home. Not only is such procedure 
necessary for the proper classification of inmates as to ability to work, 
but also for the purpose of arranging their living quarters. The housing 
of mental defectives in the same rooms with the mentally competent is 
improper for both. As an instance, in one room where some old colored 
women were quartered, an imbecile child, about ten or twelve years of 
age, was rolling about on the board floor, screaming incoherently. No 
one was paying any attention to the child so far as could be observed. 

The classification of the mentally defective need not be made a diffi¬ 
cult process. The physician in the course of his physical examination and 
in securing the previous history of the inmate could classify him satisfac¬ 
torily and could make such entries upon the record as would enable the 
authorities at the home to provide housing and care suited to the inmate’s 
needs. 

Medical Histories Should Be Kept of All Cases 

Although there are many patients at the City Home who are confined 
to their beds, no medical histories are kept of these patients. The orderly 
states that he follows out the doctor’s orders in medicating patients, but 
there are no records to show what the doctor has ordered. In other 
words, the orderly depends largely upon his memory or upon such tem¬ 
porary notes as he may take when the doctor is making rounds. This 
method should be discontinued. The crderly should keep an order book 
in which he should write the directions which the doctor gives and the 
doctor should sign his name to the day’s orders. In this wav it would he 
possible to fix responsibility for an error in medication or for failure of 
the orderly to give medicine as ordered. 


CITY HOME 


385 


The medical history which should be kept for each sick patient should 
show all facts as to the preliminary and subsequent examinations, the 
medication given, laboratory tests, if any, operative procedure, etc. If a 
hospital is to be conducted—and the City Home is indeed a hospital for 
many inmates—there should be a complete record of all that happens 
with reference to the patient, just as is done in all hospitals. 

Physician Should Keep Record of Attendance 

The charge was made to the investigator by a physician of the city 
that the physician to the City Home spent only about one-half hour a day 
at the Home and that many patients who were seriously ill were not seen 
by him for several days at a time. Lacking records of medical scervice, 
this statement cannot be confirmed or refuted. There should be a daily 
attendance record kept at the home which would show the time of the 
physician’s arrival and the time of his departure. This, with other records 
of medical service recommended, would show conclusively whether or not 
such charges were well founded. Under any circumstances, adequate 
service in attendance at the City Home should be required and there 
should be a record which will prove beyond question that service has been 
rendered in return for salary paid. 

Medical Board Recommended 

It is recommended that a medical board be appointed by the board 
of control or such other administrative body as may be charged with 
the conduct of the City Home. This board should act in an advisory 
capacity only—without compensation—and should formulate a definite 
plan for putting into effect the recommendations herewith suggested. 
The board, of which the health commissioner should be a member ex 
officio, should advise as to any other changes in medical service which 
may be deemed advisable, and should act at all times as a consulting 
medical stafif. 


(25) 



CITY MARKET 


387 


City Market 





CITY MARKET 


389 


CITY MARKET 

Market Should Be Under Department of Welfare 

The patronage of the city market in Norfolk is satisfactory evidence 
that the market is of real service to the public. The city can well afford 
to cater to this popular demand by increasing and improving market 
facilities. The chief difficulty under the present market system is lack 
of adequate supervision. This is admitted by all who have anything to 
do with the market, and it is because of this very fact that the health 
department has assumed a large part of the responsibility in seeing that 
the market is properly maintained. As a matter of fact, such improve¬ 
ments as have been made have been brought about through the efforts 
of the health commissioner and his assistants. 

We believe that the market should be placed under the supervision 
of the proposed department of welfare. One of the most important 
matters in connection with the conduct of the market is the enforcement 
of adequate sanitary regulations. To be adequate, they should be uniform 
and, under the present method, it is almost impossible to enforce uniform 
regulations. If placed under the department of welfare, uniform regula¬ 
tions could be promulgated and enforced with the machinery already 
available in the health bureau. The health bureau’s food and sanitary 
inspectors could provide the inspection necessary to secure sanitary 
regulation. 

Improved Facilities Recommended 

The need for a modern up-to-date market building capable of being 
kept in a thoroughly sanitary condition is apparent. This does not 
necessarily mean a new building, although a new building in place of the 
present ancient frame structure would be advisable. The income derived 
from the market is considerable and the present cost low. With improved 
facilities, such as uniform type of show cases and fixtures and a central 
refrigerating plant, all equipment being owned by the city, it would be 
possible to increase the rental of stores, and the improved stores and 
equipment would no doubt find the number of their patrons considerably 
increased thereby. 

To a visitor, the fly and rat nuisances at the public market are dis¬ 
gusting, but under present conditions the fly and rat nuisances are 
almost impossible of abatement. Proper facilities should be provided for 
all waste and it should be the duty of the sanitary inspectors to see that 
refuse is placed in these receptacles and not thrown into the street to 
become pabulum for flies. 

Curb Market Should Be Regulated 

At present, the curb merchants are permitted to have their stands on 
either side of the walk. This produces an unnecessary congestion of 
traffic. Curb merchants should be allowed definite space at the outside 
of the walk or on the curb only. The space allotted for each merchant 
should be marked off upon the curb by whitewash or some other method 
of marking and they should be required to confine themselves to this 
space. Encroachment upon the traffic area should be regulated so that 
traffic in this particular section may not be unduly obstructed, or the 
entire market sectjon should be closed to vehicular traffic within certain 
hours. 


390 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


The throwing of refuse into the street or upon the sidewalk should 
be prohibited and the prohibition enforced. Proper covered receptacles 
should be provided and merchants should be instructed to use these 
receptacles. It is just as possible to keep a curb market clean as it is to 
keep a store clean and the same measure of cleanliness should be insisted 
upon. 

All food products which may be contaminated by street filth should be 
kept upon benches or stands at least twenty-four inches above the street 
level. At present, all manner of foods are kept on the street in front of or 
under the stands where they are exposed to contamination of all kinds. 

Definite Market Regulations Needed 

Complete and adequate market regulations should be drawn up by 
the superintendent of the market bureau in co-operation with the health 
officials. These regulations should be printed upon large cards, and signed 
by the various dealers in the market buildings as evidence that they have 
seen and read them. The cards should then be posted conspicuously in 
the dealers’ stalls, and any violation of regulations should be promptly 
punished. 


PUBLIC WORKS FUNCTIONS 


391 


Public Works Functions 





PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS 


393 


Proposed Department of Public Works 



PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS 


395 


PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS 
General Comment 

Those functions which are commonly regarded as public works 
functions include the following departments and offices in the city service 
as now organized in Norfolk: 

Office of city engineer. 

Department of water. 

Office of inspector of streets. 

Department of electrical affairs. 

Office of building inspector. 

Office of inspector of plumbing. 

Office of custodian of public buildings. 

The survey of these departments and offices did not disclose many 
places where the offices were overmanned or where waste could be 
ascribed to an excessive number of employees. On the contrary, if satis¬ 
factory results are to be obtained, it is apparent that additional employees 
are required in a number of offices. Tbe chief requirement in the public 
works service is a thorough reorganization along progressive lines, which 
will effect a reduction in unnecessary duplication of effort, the increase 
and improvement of administrative control, and the improvement of 
methods of performing the necessary services. 

Reorganization Urgently Needed 

The building up of numerous departments and offices, each practi¬ 
cally independent of the others, and jealous of its own authority, is very 
common wherever no centralized administration is provided. The effect 
of such conditions, which violate the fundamentals of good organization, 
does not always make itself evident in a small community where the 
machinery of government is essentially simple. As a city becomes larger 
and the governmental machinery more complicated, the need for a head 
who can enforce proper co-operation between the various parts of the 
government becomes a serious matter. This is especially true of the 
public works functions, which are so closely related that improper action 
or inaction on the part of one makes proper action on the part of another 
either excessively expensive or impossible. 

This survey developed the fact that the present organization in 
Norfolk suffers from the lack of centralization, and that the evils of 
decentralization of administrative authority are even more apparent 
than usual. 

A picture of the present organiation is given on Chart C. The lack 
of a single controlling head and conflicts of administrative authority are 
apparent in the relations between the common council, the board of 
control, the city engineer, and the building inspector; between the city 
engineer and the engineer in charge of the water department; between 
the city engineer and the superintendent of street cleaning; and between 
the inspector of streets and both the superintendent of street cleaning 
and a part of the city engineer’s office. 

Charter Responsible for Defects in Organization 

That conflicts in administrative authority should have grown up 


396 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


under the present charter is not at all surprising. It is rather to be 
wondered that more serious difficulties have not arisen, and that the 
business of the city has been so well carried out. 

To illustrate: Section 5-i of the charter specifies that— 

i _ m 

“The said board of control * * * shall have man¬ 
agement and control of all streets and alleys including 
sidewalks * * *: all public bridges, with their founda¬ 
tions approaches and abutments, * * * all sewers, 
drains and waterways; * * * and generally to have 
control, management and jurisdiction of * * * the in¬ 
spection of buildings * * * and all works and proper¬ 
ties under direct control of the council committee and 
all other public utilities, works, and improvements that 
are now owned or controlled by the said city * * * and 
such other as may be acquired by the said city * * *" 

That “the management and control which the board 
of control shall have over the several departments and 
works entrusted to it shall be in accordance with such 
rules and regulations * * * as shall be adopted by the 
council or by ordinance. Such rules and regulations 
shall define duties of the officers and of the several de¬ 
partments and works * * *” 

That “the said board shall have the power to em¬ 
ploy such superintendents * * * upon such salaries as 
may be authorized by the city council * * *" 

In addition to the above provisions on the relations of the board of 
control to public works functions, section 37 provides that— 

“The city council * * * shall elect a city engineer 
who shall hold office for the term of four years from 
the date of his election * * *” 

That “the city engineer shall perform such duties 
as pertain to the civil engineering profession required 
by the city council or the board of control. He shall 
have special charge, subject only to the board of control 
and the city council, of all bridges, sewers * * * and 
shall keep himself informed as to the general conditons 
of the public streets, thoroughfares and public buildings 
and shall have general supervision thereof.’’ 

“All plans, specifications, estimates and contracts 
for the construction of the foregoing public works, 
their improvement or repair shall be made either under 
the direction of the city engineer or else subject to his 
approval. * * * He shall superintend the construc¬ 
tion. improvement and repair of all of the foregoing 
public works and perform any other engineering work 
that the board of control or the ordinance of the city 
may require." 

A reading of the above provisions would first lead one to believe 
the board of control was provided with complete responsibilitv for and 


PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS 


397 


authority to administer all of the public works functions including the 
streets and sewers, and that the council formed the legislative branch of 
the government. A little thought after reading the provisions covering 
the city engineer, especially the clause providing for his appointment, 
and also the reading of the clause providing for a definition of duties of 
officers by the council, together with some other minor points, will show 
that this control so conflicts with that of the board that in many cases 
the board’s control is practically wiped out. 

1 o illustrate in more detail by the case of the city engineer, which is 
the most striking example, the conflict is caused especially by the follow¬ 
ing elements: 

1— Appointment by council without reference to the board of control. 

2— No provision for the suspension or removal of the city engineer 

by the board, theoretically, at least, his supervisors in the man- 
agement-of many functions. 

3— The double responsibility of the engineer to the city council and 

the board of control. 

4— The fixing of definite duties on the citv engineer and the pro¬ 

vision for passing further rules governing his duties by council 
which may interfere with the proposed administration of the 
board of control. 

5— Other special provisions covering the duties of the engineer, 

different from those governing heads of other departments 
responsible to the board. 

6— A general lack of definite division of authority between the 

various other officers and the city engineer. 

City Engineer’s Responsibility Divided 

Such a condition of affairs makes it impossible to fix responsibility 
for the proper conduct of city business. The city engineer occupies the 
difficult position of being obliged to serve two masters, with the result 
that he must naturally defer more to the wishes of the council than to 
the board of control if he wishes to continue in office. This, combined 
with the fact that the members of both the council and the board of 
control usually have been men with little or no engineering or technical 
training, has made the city engineer in effect an administrator of almost 
equal rank, if not of higher rank, than the board, and has practically 
nullified their authority in certain directions. 

Present Organization of City Engineer’s Office 

The peculiarities of the present organization of the city government 
and related conditions have tended toward an amplification of the city 
engineer’s office until it now includes several functions belonging in a 
department of public works, hut not in a city engineer's office. 

The organization, until this year, included a city engineer, a chief 
assistant engineer, second, third and fourth assistant engineers, and a 
clerical assistant as the main supervising heads of the department. 

The main functions which the office definitely administered may be 
classified as follows: 



398 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


1—City surveying. 

•3—Preparation of plans, designs and specifications for most 

public improvements. 

3— Construction, maintenance and operation of the sewerage 

system. 

4— Construction, maintenance and operation of bridges. 

5— Construction and maintenance of public streets including 

sidewalks. 

6— Investigation and reporting on general engineering problems, 

7— Issuance of permits, preparation and custody of maps, draw¬ 

ings and records of the office. 

The criticisms and suggestions relating to the city engineer's office 
as now constituted are presented in the sections of this report relating 
to the proposed new organization units to which the various functions 
would be transferred. 

The Consulting Engineer 

The change in organization whereby the previous incumbent of the 
office of the city engineer was made consulting engineer in lieu of retire¬ 
ment, the chief assistant promoted to city engineer, and the office of 
chief assistant purposely left unfilled, is not in accord with good policy 
when it is considered that the consulting engineer is physically unable to 
assist in the conduct of the business of the office. This does not mean 
that the policy of retirement of faithful public servants is bad polic\, 
for it is believed that such a provision should always be possible, but 
rather that the method by which it was accomplished is criticised. 

The expense of a pension is not a proper charge against the engi¬ 
neering operations of the city but should be taken care of bv some general 
pension arrangement supported by special appropriation for this purpose. 

It is recommended that a direct provision be made for the retire¬ 
ment of the ex city engineer on a pension which will not be a charge 
against the active department or affect its efficiency. 

Council Should Not Assume Administrative Duties 

The tendency to limit the authority of the board of control in the 
administration of its duties by the constant assumption of administrative 
duties by council committees and council has greatly and unnecessarily 
complicated the operations of government. Effective administration by 
temporary committees or by so large a body as the council is practically 
impossible. The results obtained in the water department, or rather the 
lack of results, may be cited as illustrative of the great delay and waste 
incident to such practice. 

The numerous meetings of the board of control, the council, com¬ 
mittees of the council and special meetings which the heads of the de¬ 
partments must attend, as a result of the divided authorin’ above men¬ 
tioned, involve a serious waste of energy which could be used to much 
better advantage. 

A reorganization which will place the responsibility for the adminis- 


PROPOSED DEPARTMENT 0? ?NT ITC RR5 


399 


: ration of the public works functions in tire hastes :: i rA : mi'— e~l 
executive armed with complete authority «T r::p the --taste :: energy 
and funds now practically impose:hie to prevent, lr * hi ads: relieve the 
legislators of a responsibility which they cannot amend t: assume and 
which, no matter how weil-mea r~r xgr the legislators may re. nan much 
better be exercised by officials de t:ng their » h : le time t: the ctty service. 


The Orramiatttn Proposer 


In place of the present group of in ie ten tent turns new representing 
the public works functions as shown on Chart C it is imposed that a real 
departmental rrganitatirn :e st: same: as f:h: s 


General Administration 

Commission of pumic works. 

General Financial Administration 

Fiscal deputy See Chart I . 

General Technical Admm.strati:n 

Engineering deputy See Ctart I 

Operating Bureaus 

Bureau of highways ar.i sewers See Chart F 
Bureau of building's See Chart F 
Bureau of water See Chan H 
Bureau of sanitation See Chart J 

This is a type of organization winch has given efficient resuks where 
it has been used. It provides for the elimination c t all imiei respers:- 
bilrcy, a definite hxing of the lines of respoosflnfihr and ex t ent of a n thnr- 
ity. and the co-ordination :t the various related actn.mes by placmg them 
all un dr" c ::r:ftrai:r called a ss v F.e a :e 

be held responsible for the proper conduct :: the various fun menu by hts 
superior, be it a mayor, a manager or a costsmsrim. 

The more important changes trim the present ergur.-ration —rich the 
proposed departmental organization corn emulates mu; he stated as fel¬ 
lows : 

1— Centralization of all accounting end statistical :rk and 

other genera, .free functions u :u a risen! deputy 

2 — The provision for a Ugh grade of gen e ra l e ngineer ing 

supervision and a centralizari:-n of certain furcctcrs under 
an engineering deputy 

3— The abolition of the present nice of the city engineer and 

the establishment in hs place ct a bureau of highways 
and sewem. a division 1 design and survey, and certain 
other minor divisions. 

-—The formation of a b ureau of buildings whi ch will indnde 
practically all the furcrirs of the present huh ting in¬ 
spector. ir.specttr t plum ting, custodian of pur lie huh d- 
in.gs. and a large ran: t the duties cf the 'Ctemien- 
dent of electrical attains. 













400 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


5— The change in name of the department of water to bureau 

of water. 

6— The change in name of the department of street cleaning 

to bureau of sanitation. 

The provision of two deputies will make it possible for the com¬ 
missioner to keep free from the details of management and to devote 
himself to the planning of improvements and to the larger problems 
which arise. 

The engineering deputy will naturally look after those matters of 
design or construction which can be better centralized than handled by 
each bureau individually; will supply such consulting and extraordinary 
service as may be required by -the various bureaus; will investigate the 
work performed in the field ; will pass on requests of an engineering nature 
coming to the commissioner and, in general, become the engineering ad¬ 
viser of the commissioner in the routine operations of the department, 
taking his place when he is absent. 

Plans, field notes, or engineering and technical records which are 
used by more than one bureau or are of a historical nature would naturally 
come under the custody of the engineering deputy, as would the control 
over the testing laboratory, the general inspections of the department, the 
division of design and survey, the division of gas and electricity, the 
general repair shop, and perhaps, for convenience, the city garage. 

The fiscal deputy, who would naturally be head of the routine office 
work of the department, should relieve the commissioner of detail con¬ 
sideration of office operations and should supply him with such informa¬ 
tion of a financial or statistical nature as may be required. Under this 
deputy should be centralized all functions not of an engineering or tech¬ 
nical nature which can be better directed for the department as a whole 
than by each bureau separately. These would naturally include the keep¬ 
ing of accounts and records, the issuance and control of permits, the 
making of payrolls, the collection of revenue, the control and issuance of 
stores and supplies, the collection and compilation of statistics and costs, 
and the handling and filing of general department correspondence. 

Such a reorganization should effect a general reduction of duplica¬ 
tion of effort and overhead expense with a very considerable gain in 
efficiency. 

Qualifications of a Commissioner of Public Works 

The selection of a proper commissioner of public works is a very 
important matter. It should not be controlled by political considerations, 
but solely by experience and fitness to perform the duties of the office. 
The two most important requirements are, first, that he be a capable 
executive and, second, that he be either an engineer or a man with broad 
engineering experience in public works. 

For the good of the city, no requirement of residence should be 
placed upon such a position. 

Power of Appointment 

To give the city council the power of appointment to some adminis¬ 
trative offices, and to require the council’s approval or confirmation of 


PRESENT ORGANIZATION 
OF THE CITY OF 


OFPUBLIC WORKS ACTIVITIES 
NORFOLK VIRGINIA 



































































































































































D 


• mayor ] 

I OF? OTHER | 

(CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER 
l__ OR E3 O D V 

PROPOSED ORGANIZATION OF DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORK 
° F 1 HE CfiV OFiNORFOLK VIRGINIA 



THE HE W YOHH /3UEEEU Or H7 UHr C /H.Vl HE 3EHHCH 





















































































„ 


" 


' 










































































































PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS 


401 


appointments to other administrative offices, is not in accord with good 
practice even under the present organization. It violates one of the 
fundamental principles of good management which requires that when¬ 
ever an executive is held responsible for the conduct of any function that 
he shall, subject to reasonable restrictions, have the right to say who his 
subordinate executive officers shall be. 

The proposed organization contemplates the appointment of the com¬ 
missioner by the superior administrative authority; the fixing of the num¬ 
ber and character of subordinate positions and standard salaries by the 
same authority subject, perhaps, to the approval of the legislative body; 
and the appointment and removal of the actual heads of bureaus by the 
commissioner, subject to reasonable civil service control. 

Civil Service Control Recommended 

There is, perhaps, no place where a properly organized and ad¬ 
ministered civil service control can be of more benefit than in a depart¬ 
ment of public works. The continuance in office of qualified technical 
men is usually productive of great economy, especially in those branches 
where long acquaintance with the local problems is necessary for a proper 
control of the work. 

It is recommended that all subordinate positions in the department, 
except those of a purely secretarial nature, be placed under the regulation 
of a city civil service commission, and that appointments be made by 
selection from eligible lists furnished by the commission. It is realized 
that written examinations alone will not determine the ability of an execu¬ 
tive, but proper tests have secured more efficient service in other cities 
than had been previously secured without such tests. 

The method of selecting the city engineer through an examination 
conducted bv three qualified engineers is satisfactory and can be continued 
under a civil service commission without difficulty. 

Records of Employees 

In practically no branch of the public works activities are proper 
records now kept of the appointment, length, character or quality of ser¬ 
vice rendered by employees. 

The need for such records is recognized in modern practice, and a 
discussion of these needs in the department of street cleaning, which 
appears in another section of this report, is equally applicable to other 
divisions of the service. Only by such records can proper credit be placed 
where it belongs, good service be recognized, and low efficiency or con¬ 
tinuous minor breaches of discipline be dealt with, especially where 
supervising officers change periodically. 

Identification of Field Employees 

It is suggested that standard uniforms for all field employees, adapted 
to the service performed, as well as the use of neat identification badges, 
should be a general requirement throughout the city service. Uniforms 
tend to increase the efficiency of the employees, arouse a sense of pride 
in the service in the public mind, and greatly assist citizens or officers 
in keeping watch of public works. 

(26) 


402 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


For police and fire departments, such uniforms are common. It 
is recommended that they be prescribed for the public works services. 
Special note is made of this need in the section on the street cleaning' 
service. 

Department and Bureau Conferences Needed 

The great benefit derived from regular conferences between the 
supervising officers and the heads of bureaus or divisions within a de¬ 
partment, and even between subordinate employees within a bureau, has 
been recognized by a number of progressive city administrations. Through 
the medium of such conferences, new ideas are produced, related activi¬ 
ties are better co-ordinated, and the interest of officials and employees 
concentrated upon important problems, resulting in greatly increased in¬ 
terest and loyalty to the public service. 

The adoption of a general policy of this nature in the public works 
functions is recommended. 

Annual Reports 

The almost total lack of annual reports in any of the various de¬ 
partments or offices controlling public works activities made this survey 
much more difficult than it should have been. Only the reports of the 
inspector of streets, the water department, and the comptroller gave any 
assistance of consequence, and this was not nearly adequate. 

The charter provides for an annual message from the mayor setting 
forth the general condition of the city. The mayor has the power to 
require that information relative to the various offices be placed in his 
hands. No message or report had been recently prepared, but, through 
the agency of the mayor, a copy of a recent report of the water department 
was secured. Prior to some nine years ago, the preparation of annual 
reports was common to all departments. Just why the practice was 
abandoned is not clear. 

The preparation of an annual report setting forth the results which 
have been obtained through the expenditure of public funds is fully as 
important as the report of the comptroller which shows that the funds 
have been legally expended. It is only through such a document that the 
public can obtain any idea of whether the money has been wisely ex¬ 
pended and what the plans of the public officers are. An annual report 
also serves as a summary of past work for the information of the adminis¬ 
tration in future work. It provides an avenue of necessary publicity 
whereby contact can be secured between the public officers and those of 
the citizens who take an active interest in government. 

It is recommended that the preparation of annual reports be required 
and that their publication be facilitated so that they may be of current 
value. 


GENERAL FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION 


403 


General Financial Administration 




GENERAL FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION 


405 


GENERAL FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION 

Instead of the assessment, collection and custody of public works 
money, and the activities incident thereto, being scattered among 
various officials and organization units, it is recommended that these 
functions be centralized in a deputy commissioner of public works who 
would be designated as the financial or fiscal deputy. 

This official would exercise supervision over (1) the several 
bureaus of the department—i. e., highways and sewers, water, sani¬ 
tation and buildings, in so far as relates to financial and accounting 
matters, and (2) the several overhead functions of a financial or ac¬ 
counting nature which relate to all of the bureaus. 

These overhead financial and accounting functions should be 
organized as follows: 

Division of permits. 

Division of accounts and records. 

Division,of water revenue. 

Division of stores and supplies. 

i 

Division of Permits 

For the convenience of the public, to provide adequate adminis¬ 
trative control, and to reduce the expense of permit procedure, it 
is recommended that a centralized permit division be substituted for 
the present practice whereby each function or office separately issues 
permits. 

All permits should be designed to reduce the number of inde¬ 
pendent entries and to facilitate the issuance, control and convey¬ 

ance of information to the persons interested. This can be accomplish¬ 
ed by: 

1— The use of the carbon process in making entries in place 

of the separate entry of information. 

2— Adopting sizes which will fit standard filing systems. 

3— Treating all permits as financial stationery. 

4— The use of special colors to distinguish the various per¬ 

mits as an aid to police or other officers in recognizing 

them. 

Division of Accounts and Records 

The present keeping of financial records in several offices when 
the work can be performed to better advantage in one should be 
discontinued. Similarly, the filing and indexing of financial records 
and statistics or of correspondence which is of general use to the 
department, should be cared for by a single force. 

It is recommended that these services be supplied by a division 
of accounts and records under the immediate supervision of the fiscal 
deputy. 


406 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Cost and Expense Records Urgently Needed 

The general lack of complete and well-devised expense and cost 
accounts in the various offices makes the installation thereof an urgent 
necessity. The expense accounts have been much better developed 
than the cost accounts; in fact, in no office was a complete and well- 
devised cost accounting system found. In the water department 
and engineering department a good start has been made, but even 
these records are not yet in a form that will provide much current 
assistance to the department heads. 

Such records are of primary importance to the proper administra¬ 
tion of public works activities, and it is recommended that they be 
devised and installed immediately. 

Standardization of Field Forms 

The securing of accurate current information from the operating 
forces is a prerequisite to operating a unit cost system. This means 
that there must be developed proper field reports, a recapitulation 
system and a filing system which will be at once simple, easy to oper¬ 
ate, and produce information currently as needed. 

To this end, it is necessary to provide blank forms, easily carried 
in the field, of sizes that will fit standard filing systems, and as simple 
in design as is compatible with recording sufficient information. A 
convenient loose-leaf type of binder made of aluminum, holding blank 
forms, will be of great assistance in making out and protecting 
reports in the field. These work reports, combined with proper work 
authorization and office control, will form the basis for proper ad¬ 
ministrative control over field operations. 

Work Reports and payrolls 

It was found that an endeavor was being made to secure a cost 
accounting system based in part upon the payrolls. The most ex¬ 
tensive development of this system was reached in the engineer’s of¬ 
fice. The discussion of payrolls in general in another part of this 
report emphasizes the point that such a use of the payrolls defeats 
the ends sought by proper payroll procedure, and can never produce 
the information necessary for good cost accounting. 

The two should be divorced, and one used as a check on the other. 

It is recommended that all of the payroll preparation for the 
whole department be placed in the hands of the central accounting 
division. 

Cost and Expense Recapitulations 

A periodical recapitulation of cost and expense records, simply 
and clearly presented, is required by every modern executive, and 
is particularly useful in large organizations. A summary of the essen¬ 
tial factors of cost enables him to exercise intelligent control over 
his work. These summaries may present the following information: 

1—Comparative records from different organization units 
engaged on similar work. 


GENERAL FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION 


407 


2— Comparative records of the same unit at different periods. 

3— Detailed analyses of the expense of conducting each opera¬ 

tion involved in the work of the various functions. 

4— Weekly, monthly or other summaries of work accomplished 

and unit costs. 

All of the above information should be produced from the field 
reports and expense accounts by the central accounting force and 
placed in the hand of the interested officers regularly as a matter of 
routine. 

Division of Water Revenue 

The reasons for the establishment of this division and the duties 
which should attach to it are discussed in that chapter of the report 
relating to water supply. 

Division of Stores and Supplies 

Only in the water department has an adequate stores control 
been attempted. Here the system has been well begun. There is 
just as much need for control over the stores and supplies in other 
divisions of the public works functions, and it is recommended that 
this control be centralized under the fiscal deputy for all bureaus and 
divisions of the public works department. 

Central Storeyard Needed 

The separate operation of three storeyards and plants, one for 
the department of water, another for the engineering office, con¬ 
taining the municipal asphalt plant, and a third for the department 
of street cleaning, containing the stable, can well be abandoned and 
the work of all three concentrated in one place. This will give im¬ 
proved control and protection of supplies. It should also effect 
economy through the placing of supplies close to a central repair 
shop and a central stable. 

Central Stable 

Centralization of storeyard and repair shop activities leads to 
consideration of the next step,—centralization of the stable service. 
This has manifest advantages provided it can be accomplished with¬ 
out increasing the travel of the teams out of all proportion to the 
advantage gained. 

The logical location for such a stable would be adjacent to the 
central shop and garage. Its control should be lodged with the bureau 
of sanitation, which uses the most horses. The bureau could most 
easily care for the few teams employed by the highway bureau and 
the bureau of water, which are now separately cared for. 

It would seem practicable to obtain more property in the vicinity 
of one of the present yards so that all of the proposed centralized 
functions of shops, garage, stable, storeyards, municipal asphalt plant 
and even some of the supervising officers could be grouped there to 
their mutual advantage. 

Further analysis and study of this suggestion in the face of the 
local conditions is suggested. 




GENERAL ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION 


409 


General Engineering Administration 





























GENERAL ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION 


411 


GENERAL ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION 

Instead of the engineering functions being scattered as at pres¬ 
ent, it is suggested that one of the two deputy commissioners of 
public works be designated as the engineering deputy and that he 
be given general supervision, under the commissioner, with respect 
to all engineering work. 

He would exercise general supervision over (1) the several 
bureaus of the department in so far as relates to work other than that 
covered by the financial or fiscal deputy, and (2) the several overhead 
functions of an engineering character which relate to all of the 
bureaus and are, therefore, in a sense staff agencies as distinguished 
from the bureaus as line agencies. The engineering deputy should 
also represent the commissioner during his absence. 

The overhead engineering functions should be organized as fol¬ 
lows : 

Division of design and survey. 

Testing laboratory. 

Inspection division. 

Division of gas and electricity. 

City shops and garage. 

Division of Design and Survey 

The present engineering group under the second assistant engi¬ 
neer performs the functions of a city surveyor. The proposed division 
will control the laying out of streets in accordance with the citv plan 
and bring together the necessary information for the production of 
record maps used by the citizens and required by the various bureaus 
or departments of the city. The engineers, with the draftsmen now 
employed in the general office, and such other engineers as may be 
needed on extraordinary design or construction work, will constitute 
the division of design and survey contemplated in the proposed organi¬ 
zation. 

Need for a Central Clearing House for Engineering Service 

In every city, the various departments occasionally require the 
services of a large engineering force to perpare information or plans 
for new construction, or to deal with other engineering problems 
with which the regular operating force cannot cope. In order to pro¬ 
vide such service in the most economical way, a central clearing 
house is a very great advantage, both to the departments and to the 
employees of the division. It furnishes quickly available service of a 
proper sort with the least duplication and provides an opportunity 
for constant and useful employment of engineering ability of a dif¬ 
ferent grade. 

Relation to Other Organization Units 

The relation of the division of design and survey to the depart¬ 
ments or bureaus of the city service should be similar to that of a 
private consulting engineer to his client. Upon requisition by a de- 


412 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


partment or bureau head, approved by the proper authorities, the required 
engineering service should be rendered. 

This will place the responsibility for the operation of a bureau 
in the hands of the bureau head where it belongs, yet give him the 
advantage of all the information which may have been collected in the 
past by the city. 

Central Engineering Records and Files 

The custody of public records of an engineering character, such 
as maps, plans, drawings, tracings, descriptions of property, operat¬ 
ing records, etc., which are referred to by the public or by more than 
one branch of the city service, should be placed under the engineering 
deputy in the division of design and survey. 

When copies of such material are required, they should be requisi¬ 
tioned by the officer needing them. 

Under the present organization, the files of the engineering de¬ 
partment have been well developed and protected. The original note¬ 
books and drawings made since the establishment of the office are 
carefuly preserved and easily accessible. 

The water department has similar files started, but they are not 
complete and are not protected against fire. Other departments have 
valuable information which is not readily available under the present 
system. For example, the department of street cleaning, in order to 
get the area of pavements which are cleaned, has made its own measure¬ 
ments rather than trying to obtain them from the records of the 
engineering department. Such information should have been received 
as a routine matter from the division charged with the construction of 
the pavement. There should be greater cooperation in the use of such 
information. 

Record Maps Should Be Completed 

The lack of complete records of subsurface conditions in particu¬ 
lar, and of physical conditions in general, is much more common in 
smaller cities than it should be, and is the cause of much unnecessary 
expense. 

Norfolk has a very good record of sewers and drains, and of the 
water pipes in a large portion of the city, but very scanty information 
in regard to corporation construction, such as pipes and conduits, ex¬ 
cepting those laid in the past few years. 

It is recommended that, whenever the opportunity presents itself, 
a careful record of all such construction be obtained and brought 
together in the division of design and survey for proper compilation. 
It is also recommended that all corporations be required to furnish 
tracings of such maps and plans of their piping as they may now possess. 

City Plan 

The need for city planning has been long realized in many cities 
of this country, and much constructive work has been done in this 
direction. Preparation for such a study should be made a part of the 


GENERAL ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION 


413 


effort of the division of design and survey in cooperation with the 
various operating bureaus or departments, especially with the depart¬ 
ment of parks and the bureau of highways and sewers. 

Engineering Expense Should Be Charged Against Function 
Receiving It 

The cost of all engineering service furnished to the city should be 
charged against the department or bureaus receiving it and by them to 
the jobs so that a correct statement of the entire cost of any piece of 
work may be prepared. 

Furnishing of Private Survey Service 

The present practice of furnishing survey service to private firms 
and persons at standard prices is good practice and should be con¬ 
tinued. Prices should always be set at a rate which will guarantee the 
recovery of the entire expense of the work including overhead expense. 

Records of such surveys should be carefully filed and indexed for 
reference in the future as at present. 

Standard Specifications Should Be Developed 

The use of standard specifications is at present not general, though 
a very good start has been made toward developing such specifications 
in the engineering office and the water department. 

The present highways specifications and sewer specifications are 
much better than those prepared for the water department. This is 
a natural result of the present decentralized agencies that have to do 
with the preparation of specifications. 

It is recommended that in the preparation of all new specifications 
the following rules be observed : 

1— Cooperative discussion of plans and requirements 

between the engineering group and the head of 
the bureau or department interested 

2— Close observance of the standards developed by 

specially qualified associations rather than the 
independent development of such standards, 
allowing only such change as may be required by local con¬ 
ditions 


Testing Laboratory 

The transfer of the present testing laboratory to the control of the 
engineering deputy is recommended. 

At the present time, this laboratory does practically no work for 
any but the engineer’s office. Its scope should be enlarged to serve the 
whole city. In particular, it should make all necessary tests of sup¬ 
plies, material and equipment purchased. 

To secure the best results with the least duplication of equipment 
or effort, the testing laboratory and the laboratory of the department 
of health should be located adjacent to each other. The health laboratory 


414 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


gives the only control available over the sanitary quality of the water 
supply. It can easily assist in the chemical analyses of supplies and 
materials, while the testing laboratory may pay particular attention to 
physical tests. 

The testing of supplies and materials to make sure they are up to 
standard is a necessary function of proper purchasing, and it is recom¬ 
mended that work along this line be extended in the testing laboratory. 
The coal analysis now performed for the water department by a 
private chemist should be conducted by the testing laboratory, as well 
as the testing of paints, oils, food supplies, fire hose, etc. 

Inspection Division 

Those functions of inspection which must be carried out in a public 
works department in order that sufficient and dependable field informa¬ 
tion may be made available for the use of the administrative officers, 
can be said to fall within three groups : 

1— Inspection of construction work done by contrac¬ 

tors or the municipality 

2 — Patrol and permit inspections 

3— Inspection of private construction 

The first group includes the work of inspectors who observe the 
progress and quality of contract or public construction work, to see 
that it conforms to specifications, and report to their superiors. These 
inspectors are at present distributed throughout various departments 
of the city service. 

The second group includes those inspections now performed by 
the inspector of streets, the foreman of sidewalk repairs, and the police. 
This service is further discussed in connection with the office of the 
inspector of streets. 

The third group includes the functions now exercised by the 
offices of the building inspector, the plumbing inspector, and the super¬ 
intendent of electrical affairs, as far as these are inspectional in their 
nature. 

Central Inspection Force Required 

The developments of recent years have led to the conclusion that 
the most efficient service can be secured from a public works inspector 
rather than through specialized inspectors covering only one phase of 
the necessary inspection work. By centralization of this force, much 
more efficient use can be made of the inspectors’ time. It makes 
possible the employment of a regular staff throughout the year which 
forms the nucleus of the larger force necessary in the summer months. 

Except for those inspectors who are continously required in the 
bureau of buildings, it is recommended that all inspectors be placed in 
an overhead group under the engineering deputy, available for service 
wherever required. 


GENERAL ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION 


415 


Co-Ordination of Inspections with Division of Design 

and Survey Necessary 

The functions of inspection which include the reporting of work 
which should be done, as well as that under way, must be coordinated 
with the division charged with the development of plans for doing the 
work. 

The relation of this central inspection staff with the various bureaus 
should be similar to that which exists between a bureau and a private 
engineering firm furnishing similar service. 

Street Inspection 

Present Functions of Inspector of Streets: 

The present duties of the inspector of streets may be classified 
as follows: 

Patrol inspection of streets and sidewalks to locate 
dangerous places of all kinds 
Inspection of signs and awnings 
Care of street signs 
Inspection of drain spouts on houses 
Inspection of poles 

Supervision of the use of sidewalks and streets by builders 

Inspection and emergency repair of wooden bridges 

Inspection and emergency repair of bulkheads 

Removal of dangerous trees 

Numbering of houses 

Repairs to dirt streets and sidewalks 

Supervision of “lane gang” cleaning lanes 

Removal of obstructions 

Inspection of street trash cans 

Miscellaneous duties at request of board of control or city at¬ 
torney 

This appears to be a formidable lot of work. In fact, it is more than 
one man can cover with the assistance of a team. 

The use of Policemen as Inspectors: 

All of the patrol inspection of streets for the location of incum¬ 
brances, building material, defective signs and awnings, dangerous poles 
defective drain spouts, dangerous places in the roadway or sidewalks 
or the illegal use of same, is properly a function of the police department. 
Patrolmen are present on the streets nearly all the time and should 
be qualified to protect the safety of the public, and enforce the ordinance 
or report to officials who can better perform that duty or can repair 
defects. 

It is recommended that this work be turned over to the police de¬ 
partment and the police be made responsible for it. 

Street Cleaning Functions Should P>e in That Department: 

The inspection of street rubbish cans, the cleaning of lanes, and 
removal of incumbrances are normally functions of the department of 
street cleaning and should be a part of its responsibility. It is recom- 


416 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


mended that these duties be turned over to the department of street 
cleaning- and the existing double responsibility eliminated. 

If street cleaning funds are to be used for this work, they should 
only be expended under the authority of the superintendent of street 
cleaning. Either the inspector of streets should be a part of the street 
cleaning organization and report to the superintendent, or work on his 
own funds. 

Removal of Trees: 

All trees in city streets should be under the jurisdiction of the 
park department. Therefore, full responsibility for inspection, care, 
removal, planting, etc., should be transferred from the present office to 
that department. The “Lane gang,” comprised of men familiar with 
this work, should be transferred to the park department. 

Other Duties Should Be Tranferred to Engineer’s 
Office Pending Complete Reorganization : 

The duties of repairing streets, sidewalks and bridges, the main¬ 
tenance of street signs, and the numbering of houses are duties which 
are now partially performed by the city engineer’s office and should be 
entirely under his control until a change in organization places such 
duties elsewhere. Repairs to dirt streets and sidewalks contained in 
the city street system should be looked after by the same force that is 
responsible for paved streets. Street signs and poles are a part of 
street design and maintenance. The numbering of houses is now 
supervised by the engineering department. 

It is recommended that such duties be either continued in or 
transferred to the present city engineer’s office and later to the suitable 
bureaus or divisions of the proposed public works department. 

Annaul Report Commended: 

The annual report of the inspector of streets is one of the few such 
statements found in the city service. A clear understanding of the 
work actually accomplished was secured from the reports. Such an 
annual summary should be prepared by all departments. This report 
is commended, and it is suggested that the practice be continued with 
the addition of the cost records. 

Division of Gas and Electricity 
Department of Electric Affairs 

The present department of electric affairs which supervises all 
the service relating to gas and electricity now provided in Norfolk has 
the following functions under its supervision : 

Lighting of streets and public buildings 
Testing and sealing of gas and electric meters 
Registering and bonding of electrical contractors 
Issuance of permits for electrical construction 
Inspection of electrical construction both inside and 
outside buildings 

Control over electricians in theaters 


GENERAL ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION 


417 


Construction and maintenance of police telegraph 
Construction and maintenance of fire alarm system 

The department is under the supervision of a superintendent of 
electrical affairs appointed by and responsible to the board of control. 
(See Chart C). 

The regular employees consist of a clerk, two inspectors of house 
wiring, a foreman of construction, a lineman, and other temporary em¬ 
ployees as required. 

Changes in Organization Proposed 

In order that the necessary coordination of related functions and 
proper administrative control may be secured in conformity with the 
proposed organization of a department of public works, the following 
changes are proposed: 

1— Establishment within the department of public works of a 

division of gas and electricity which will have the following 
duties— 

a—Supervising the lighting of streets and public 
buildings 

b—Testing and sealing of gas and electric meters 
c—The control over theater electricians 
d—The furnishing of services of electricians to 
any department or bureau of the city service 
upon request, including the construction and 
maintenance of the police telephone and fire 
alarm systems 

2 — The transfer to the police and fire departments of the actual 

control over their signal systems with the understanding that 
they will utilize the services of the division of gas and electric¬ 
ity as far as possible in construction and maintenance 

3— The transfer to the bureau of buildings of all duties relating to 

the inspection of buildings and the enforcement of the electrical 
code; the registering and bonding of electrical contractors 

4— The transfer to the permit division of all permit issuance and 

control 

It is to be noted that this contemplated change does not in any way 
prevent the officer in charge of electrical affairs from furnishing any 
necessary service to the bureau of buildings. At the same time, it 
places a qualified officer familiar with electrical matters where he can 
be most useful to the city as a whole. 

The study of the production and distribution of gas and electricity 
within the city of Norfolk is just as important to the welfare of its 
citizens as is the study of the supply of water. Only through a clear 
understanding of the local conditions and the collection of definite data 
will the city be able properly to approach the making of new contracts 
and franchises, or be able to safeguard the rights of its citizens. It is 
beleived that a small but competent group should be maintained in the 
department of public works which will bring together all data that may 
( 27 ) 


418 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


be secured relative to these services, and supervise the present public 
contracts with utility companies as represented by the lighting con¬ 
tract. 

A further service may be rendered by this group in advising on all 
work of a technical nature relating to the use of gas and electricity for 
other branches of the city service. 

There is no reason why the testing of meters or the testing of street 
lights should not be performed by the testing laboratory force. 

City Lighting 

The present contract for lighting the city runs out in 1916. It is 
highly important that in renewing this contract the city secure the best 
information and advice relative to the possibilities of better service. 

Commission Suggested 

In order that such study may be made effective, it is recommended 
that a small commission, preferably of three men, be selected to draft a 
tentative contract. One member should be the superintendent of 
electrical affairs and a second the city engineer, as those officers of the 
city are best qualified to assist, and are most interested in obtaining 
proper lighting. 

Such a commission should be provided with the assistance of an 
expert. A committee of citizens, representing the city council, the 
board of trade, and other interested organizations, would be helpful. 
This committee should assist and advise, but the actual determination 
of the final plan would have to be made by the commission. 

Opportunity for Improvement 

The recent extensive development of artistic lighting systems and 
efficient lights has brought a realization that good lighting is a necessity 
rather than a luxury. With these developments, the earlier idea that 
a blaze of light constitutes good lighting has gradually disappeared and 
in its place scientifically planned and extremely artistic designs of 
equipment have appeared which harmonize with surroundings and do 
not waste light. Where display effects have been desired, especially 
beautiful results hav been obtained. 

A comparison of Granby Street with its inefficient lighting arches 
which create an ugly looking street by day, or a comparison of another 
Norfolk street with its five light clusters attached to the concrete 
trolley poles, or the duplication of service through the retention of arc 
lights, with some of the “White Ways” in other cities, will make 
Norfolk’s need for better street lighting evident to any observer. 

Street Signs and Street Lighting 

The opportunity for utilization of an ornamental lighting system 
which will assist both in beautifying the streets and securing an 
efficient set of street signs has not been given enough attention. 

Present Duplication of Lighting Should Be Ended 
by New Contract 

It is stated that an attempt was made to avoid duplication of 


GENERAL ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION 


419 


lighting, due to the presence of arc lights on the same streets and even 
attached to the same poles with cluster lights or arches, but the refusal 
of the company to reduce the rates if these lights were removed, and the 
fact that no provision was made for lighting of the streets after mid¬ 
night, defeated the effort. 

It is recommended that ordinances be enacted placing the control 
over all lighting installation in the hands of the department of public 
works and that a suitable provision be inserted in the next contract to 
prevent the recurrence of such conditions. Economic waste resulting 
from the simultaneous illumination of the streets by two systems of 
lights is not excusable, even though the entire cost is not paid bv the 
city or by private owners. 

Co-Operation in Planning Systems 

In order to meet the desire of local associations for display light¬ 
ing, and at the same time to preserve a standard of lighting arrangement 
and design which will agree with a general program for lighting, it is 
necessary that special facilities for cooperation be provided by the city. 

This cooperation is recommended and should be a regular part of 
the duty of the division of gas and electricity in conjunction with 
the division of design and survey which would naturally supervise the 
general city plan. 

Need for a Plan of Street Illumination 

No standard poles are used over extended areas either in the 
business section or residential sections. The location of lights can be 
changed to advantage in many cases. Several places were observed 
where the lighting was admitted to be deficient. 

It is believed that much improvement can be secured in lighting 
the city without great additional cost by the more general adoption of 
modern high efficiency nitrogen lamps in place of arcs ; the use of single 
light posts or brackets on poles in the residential districts; the use of 
cluster posts with provision for shutting off a portion of the lights at 
midnight in the business districts ; a general use of a bracket fixture with 
a single light where practicable on car line streets; the staggering of 
post locations; and the adoption of other improvements now available 
in illumination engineering. 

The preparation of a comprehensive plan for the lighting of the 
city’s streets is recommended. 

‘"Outages” 

The value of street lighting lies in dependable service. Realizing 
this, the lighting company stations a trimmer with a motorcycle on 
duty at night at police headquarters who quickly attends to lights that 
are reported out. 

The police provide the city’s report service on outages and on 
repairs, but their report is very large and inconvenient to handle and 
is turned in only once a month, which practically destroys its value 
for administrative purposes. 


420 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


The police should report daily and their reports should be trans¬ 
mitted without delay to the head of the division of gas and electricity. 

Light Testing 

The question of efficient maintenance does not lie entirely in the 
prevention of “outages”. Dirty globes, old lamps, imperfect operation, 
not noted by the police, cause a loss to the community. Periodic tests 
should be made to determine the efficiency of lighting, and a check in¬ 
spection conducted by a specially qualified inspector. 

A luminometer has been purchased which will assist in the testing 
of incandescent lights, but the only check now maintained over street 
lighting, excepting the reports of “outages” by the police, is by the 
checking of current consumption at the power station. 

Contract for Current Separate from Construction 
and Maintenance 

The present contract includes in the flat rate the cost of furnishing 
poles, lamps, wiring and other construction complete, the maintenance 
of equipment and the changing of lamp locations. A contract should 
be as flexible as possible yet give a fair return to the company and full 
service to the city. It is suggested that the next contract be so drawn 
that the various items stand by themselves as follows: 

1— A schedule of charges for all types of new posts, lamps fittings 

or other standard equipment required; free use of existing 
poles; and provision for any special installation at net cost 
plus a fixed and specified per cent 

2 — A unit price for current furnished with a specified allowable 

line loss and maximum use per lamp 

3— A price for maintenance of equipment of standard type per light 
Such a contract will remedy the conditions responsible for the 

present duplication of lighting and allow any changes to be made that 
may be desired. 

Reports from the Company 

As a check on “outages” and service, it is recommended that the 
company be required to report the current consumed by each circuit 
or set of circuits which is metered, and to forward a report of the 
“outages” corrected and the renewals or repairs made. 

Public Building Lighting 

The present control over the use of current in the public buildings 
is excellent. The consumption is closely watched by the superintend¬ 
ent of electrical affairs, except in the pumping stations of the engineer¬ 
ing department. The company bills are checked and a voucher prepared 
distributing the expense to the proper accounts. The meter bills are 
registered on a summary sheet in such a way that excessive use is 
immediately noticed and the attention of the proper parties called to 
the trouble. All current used should be watched by the superintendent 
even for the pumping stations. 

Rates for Current 

It is recommended that, before granting a new franchise to the 


GENERAL ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION 


421 


lighting- company, a definite study of the rate situation, with the aid of 
expert service be undertaken so that all reasonable advantage through 
favorable location near cheap fuel may be secured for the citizens of 
Norfolk. 

Gas Franchise Monopoly Should Be Granted 

The provision in the present agreement which leaves an oppor¬ 
tunity for the introduction of a duplication of gas service by the grant¬ 
ing of a second franchise is an element of uncertainty for which the 
people of the city must in the end pay. No company can afiford to make 
a contract under such conditions without properly insuring itself 
against loss in case a new franchise is granted or the city installs its 
own plant. This insurance is paid by the public in the shape of higher 
rates. Again, in case the city allows a new franchise, it must generally 
in the end pay for the duplication of plant; the city must suffer the in- 
convience of having its streets dug up twice where once will suffice; 
two companies must be controlled, necessitating extra expense; and, 
in general, no real benefit is ever gained. 

The granting of a monopolistic franchise for a term of years, with 
provision for the purchase of the plant at its appraised value, and proper 
safeguards for the protection of the public, is preferable to the present 
scheme and is recommended. 

Profit-Sharing Franchise Suggested 

The method suggested for issuing a profit-sharing franchise to 
the gas company is that followed by the city of Boston when a new 
franchise was granted to the Consolidated Gas Company in 1906. It 
consists generally in the determination of the value of the plant of the 
company; a provision for paying the interest, operating and deprecia¬ 
tion charges on the plant; the laying up of a limited reserve for extra¬ 
ordinary expenses; adequate publicity of all transactions of the com¬ 
pany ; the paying of a fixed dividend when the price of gas is at a 
definite rate, and permission for an increase in dividends if rates are 
reduced and earnings increase. 

It is recommended that this general type of contract be given espec¬ 
ial attention in the preparation of a new contract for Norfolk as it is 
believed that it offers the best method whereby the rights of both parties 
can be preserved, the legal difficulties often experienced in the relations 
between public utility corporations and cities minimized, the advantages 
of private initiative preserved, while, at the same time, an equitable 
share in the gain resulting from the granting of such a privilege is 
secured automatically for the users of gas and the city. 

Police and Fire Signal Systems 

The fire alarm telegraph system and the police signal box system 
are under the jurisdiction of the superintendent of electrical affairs. 
The management may be said to be efficient and the system well main¬ 
tained. 

Central Fire Alarm Equipment Adequate: 

The fire alarm equipment consists of a Gamewell automatic system 


422 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


which was installed in 1887 and improved in 1013. Central control of 
the system is located in a fire-proof building and the equipment therein 
is adequate to meet the needs of the city. 

Insufficient Fire Alarm Boxes: 

There are at present 132 fire alarm boxes located at an average 
distance of 700 feet apart in the congested value district and approxi¬ 
mately 1100 feet apart in the outlying or surburban districts. The 
boxes"are tested monthly. An examination of a number of the boxes 
showed that the present method and frequency of testing are satis¬ 
factory. 

Of the total number of boxes, however, thirty-five are privately 
owned and located within buildings. W hile the congested value 
district is amply protected in so far as the number and location of the 
boxes are concerned, the suburban section of the city, particularly the 
North Ghent section, are in need of additional fire alarm boxes. 

All Boxes Should Be Equipped with Red Lights: 

All of the boxes are painted red, but only twenty are equipped with 
electric lights and red globes for night service. Those equipped with 
lights are for the most part located in the congested value district, or 
what is known as “Downtown.” It is recommended that all of the fire 
alarms boxes be equipped with a red light to be used during the night 
so as to indicate the location of the box. The need for these lights is 
even much greater in the suburban districts than in the downtown sec¬ 
tion. 

Pumping Station Should Be Equipped with “Joker” Gong: 

In order that the pumping station shall be promptly notified of 
alarms of fire and immediately, without further advice or request, 
increase the water pressure, it is recommended that it receive the 
alarms over the gong system in the same manner as fire stations. The 
central office of the water system should likewise be equipped with a 
“Joker” gong. 

Police Signal Service System : 

There are located through out the city eighty-four police signal 
boxes. These boxes are of the Gamewell type with the usual mechani¬ 
cal equipment necessary for the recording of the signals at headquarters 
and precincts. The terminal boards of this system are old and rapidly 
deteriorating and so out of repair as to be defective. 

The use of a complicated and costly signal box for communicating 
between' the patrol posts and the precinct stations should be discon¬ 
tinued, and as new boxes are installed or old ones replaced, it is 
recommended that the ordinary telephone in a small box be used. These 
boxes should be placed on the walls of buildings, thus eliminating the 
cost of pedestals and their erection. The efficiency of the telephone as 
a means of communication between the patrol posts and the precinct 
stations is no longer questioned. The primary object of these boxes 
should be to establish communication rather than to check the patrol¬ 
men, since the only efficient method of checking the patrol service is 
through the use of patrol sergeants. 


GENERAL ENGINEERING ADMINISTRATION 


423 


Complete Private Telephone System for Police Necessary: 

The telephone equipment in use by the police department 
between the precinct stations and headquarters is neither adequate nor 
private. It is recommended that the superintendent of electrical affairs 
be authorized and directed to install an internal telephone system in the 
police department similar to that maintained in the fire department. 
The police department should have as much privacy in the matter of 
telephone service as is possible and the equipment should be arranged 
so as to make its use as convenient as possible for the officers of the 
department. 

Record of Signal Service Could Be Improved: 

The records of the superintendent, while well maintained and 
fairly adequate, could be improved by providing for the installation of 
a proper unit cost record in connection with repair and construction 
work. All alarms should receive serial numbers. The superintendent 
should make a daily report to the chief of the fire department and the 
chief of police and a monthly report to the administrative head. These 
reports should show .definite information concerning the operations of 
his division relating to police and fire signal service. The records of 
wire trouble should be more detailed so as to facilitate prompt analysis 
of the causes of the trouble. 

Other Functions of the Present Electrical Department 

The other functions now supervised by the department of electric¬ 
al affairs will be discussed under the section dealing with the proposed 
bureau of buildings and the central permit division to which it is sug¬ 
gested that they be transferred. 

City Shops and Garage 

Need for Central Shop 

The need for a central city shop and a central garage is evident 
when the present methods of providing such service and the results are 
studied. 

Practically all of the automobiles in the city service are in a lament¬ 
able condition through lack of proper repairs. The shop and repair 
service is not concentrated anywhere to an extent which will allow an 
installation of labor-saving machinery. As modern machinery, im¬ 
proved and more complex equipment and increased use of automobiles 
are developed in the city service, the need for a good shop will become 
more and more apparent. The present scattered repair service will 
never produce the best results, except in special cases such as at the 
water works pumping station which is so far from the city that a 
separate shop is desirable, and at the fire department shops where the 
spare time of firemen can be utilized. 

The provision for a central shop under the public works department 
for the repair and maintenance of equipment for all city departments 
is recommended. 

The present small repair groups and equipment in the engineering 
service, in the street cleaning department and in the water department 


424 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


(other than pumping stations) should be centralized with the central 
garage service. These groups should be placed, as far as practicable, 
under one head who should be a competent skilled mechanic. It is 
recognized that the men used on water works repairs must be under 
the supervision of the bureau of water, but the advantage of locating 
this force in the same shop with the other repair forces would be to 
make one plant, including the equipment thereof, available to all de¬ 
partments, and thus eliminate duplication. 

Advantage of a Central Garage 

The experience of other cities shows that unless adequate central¬ 
ized control is exercised over the automobile service the cost of such 
service is high. This results from several factors : 

1— The definite assignment of cars to officials and divisions causes 

the overworking of some cars and too little operation of others 

2— The privileges of city-owned cars are more often abused by use 

on other than the public service 

3— The expenses of cleaning, storage and repair are greater 

4— Chaufifeur expense is greater 

5— Supplies cost more 

6— Comparative records of service are hard to secure 

While some cars must be held for the service of certain officials, 
others are required only for short periods. Low cost of automobile 
service per mile travelled can only be secured through a maximum use 
of the cars, which will distribute the high first cost and other fixed 
charges over as many miles as possible. 

The above facts, coupled with the need for repair service in a 
garage, make advisable the establishment in Norfolk of a central garage 
in connection with a central shop. 

The various city departments should be obliged to call upon the 
central garage for automobiles, and the cost of the service should be 
divided on the basis of service rendered. 


HIGHWAYS AND SEWERS 


425 


Highways and Sewers 


(Proposed Bureau of Highways and Sewers) 




HIGHWAYS AND SEWERS 


427 


HIGHWAYS AND SEWERS 
(PROPOSED BUREAU OF HIGHWAYS AND SEWERS) 

1 he suggested transfer to a bureau of highways and sewers of all 
those functions now controlled in the city engineer’s office which relate 
to the maintenance and operation of the streets, sidewalks, bridges, sewers, 
drains and water front structures and such construction as may he better 
supervised in a bureau directly than through the central division, is, per¬ 
haps, the most important change in the proposed public works organiza¬ 
tion. These functions which relate almost entirely to the care of* the 
highways of the city and their drainage have now become of such im¬ 
portance that their supervision should be separated from other functions 
and special attention devoted to their problems. 

Present Organization 

The supervision of the two functions of sewers and highway main¬ 
tenance is now closely connected, the former being under the fourth 
assistant engineer and the latter under the third assistant engineer as 
shown on Chart E. This organization, especially the highway repair end 
of it, is well controlled and justifies a continuance of many of the present 
elements in the reorganization. 

Proposed Organization 

The proposed organization should include the formation of three 
main divisions of the work shown in Chart F as follows : 

Division of highways, 

Division of sewers, 

Division of bridges and water front. 

These divisions are the natural ones into which the functions of this 
bureau fall and do not materially dififer from the present grouping. 

Division of Highways 

The present division of highways in the office of the city engineer 
lacks a well-established program or policy relative to the construction of 
pavements, largely because the policy is framed by the council and, 
through petition, by local property owners even against the advice of the 
engineer. 

Policy Should Be Initiated by Commissioner 

In the selection of a type of pavement, conditions of traffic, founda¬ 
tion, sanitation, grade, cost of materials, cost of maintenance, character 
of abutting property, general relation to future plans and several other 
considerations must be kept definitely in mind if the pavement which best 
meets the needs of the community is to be selected. 

The property owners and the council should realize that they have not 
the technical knowledge of the engineers they employ. They should hold 
the engineers responsible, but should give the engineers control over 
designs and the types of pavements. 

It is recommended that provision be made whereby designs and types 


428 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


can be initiated by the commissioner of public works, assuming’, of course, 
that be will utilize all of the experience available in the department. 

Laying Loose Blocks as Preliminary to Permanent Pavement 

It has been a rather general practice in Norfolk to lay Belgian block 
on a sand cushion directly on the subgrade or on a cobble foundation. 

A proper foundation under a pavement is of primary importance. 
The soft soil, high level of ground water, and consequent possibility of 
settling require the use of pavement which will settle without excessive 
damage. In addition, a type of pavement should be laid which will tend 
to bring the subgrade to a stable condition and be inexpensive to maintain. 
The raising of City Hall Avenue some nine inches on three successive 
occasions is an example of the conditions that have to be met in Norfolk. 

Concrete Foundations 

The requirements of modern traffic have so changed the demands 
made upon pavements that it is now seldom economical to construct a 
permanent pavement without a suitable concrete foundation. The extra 
cost is more than justified by the increased service and decreased main¬ 
tenance cost. 

Bases Should Be Thicker 

On soft foundations like those found in Norfolk, it is important to 
distribute the load on a pavement over as large an area as possible. A 
thick foundation gives a greater bridging effect than a thin one. A four- 
inch foundation will not generally be found sufficient in Norfolk unless 
it is superimposed upon an old macadam road or similar compact well- 
bound subgrade. 

The thickness of the base should be greater than six inches in the 
streets of heaviest traffic, if the heavy loads of modern vehicles are to 
be properly supported. 

On suburban streets and the lighter traffic streets, a thinner base 
may be permitted. 

Present Pavements 

The mileage, area and kind of pavements in the city of Norfolk 
are as follows: 

Per Cent, of 


Type 

Miles 

Square Yards 

Paved Ai 

Asphalt 

31.70 

480,230 

39.5 

Asphalt block 

1.89 

. 32,890 

2.7 

Bitulithic 

10.49 

172,920 

14.2 

Wood block 

3.21 

50,670 

4.2 

Brick 

3.01 

42,090 

3.5 

Cement 

0.45 

4,260 

.4 

Granite block 

22.87 

337,260 

27.8 

Key block 

1.92 

36,690 

3.0 

Cobble 

3.45 

43,220 

3.5 

Bituminous macadam 

1.38 

15,170 

1.2 

Total paved 

80.37 

1,215,400 

100.0 

Mileage unpaved 

91.63 



Total mileage 

172.00 









THE YCP*° r 












































































































































































































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general 

' ADMINISTRATION 1 

I COMM/SS1GNER 

[_ _OF_PUBLIC WORKS 

PROPOSED ORGANIZATION OF A BUREAU OF HIGH WAVS AND SEWERS 

OF THE CITY OF I NORFOLK VIRGINIA 



THE NEW YORK BUREAU OF MUNICIPAL RE SEARC H 




















































































































































































































HIGHWAYS AND SEWERS 


429 


. T lle large amount of permanent, smooth, bituminous pavement is 
noticeable over 56 per cent, of the total area paved. This is represented 
by three tvpes, asphalt, asphalt block and bitulithic, the first leading in 
area. 

The granite block and key block paving are almost entirely laid upon 
sand cushions with no concrete foundation. There is only one block 
constructed on a suitable foundation and provided with an approved joint 
filler. 

The use of brick has been practically discontinued and wood block 
has been used only since 1910. 

Unpaved Streets Should Have Better Maintenance 

Only $3,000 is provided for the maintenance of 91 miles of unpaved 
streets. 1 hese streets are largely ungraded and without any surface 
treatment. A portion of the main routes has been kept in very good con¬ 
dition by the liberal use of oyster shells. With the greater demand for 
oyster shells for other purposes, and a lack of funds to provide other 
material, the maintenance of these roads has deteriorated. 

To place these roads in proper condition, the main routes should 
either be resurfaced with a resistant material, preferably bituminous, or 
constant repairs should be made by a patrol force. 

Question of Too Much Asphalt 

In the opinion of the city engineer, the use of asphalt has been too 
extensive on car-track streets. This is chargeable to the low first cost 
and attractive nature of the pavement which leads the public to select 
this type in preference to others which are recommended or which may 
be better adapted to the local conditions. 

It is believed that while there may be too much of certain kinds of 
asphalt construction such as those which rapidly disintegrate under the ac¬ 
tion of water, and the type of construction now used on car-track street, yet 
the general use of asphalt construction on medium traffic streets should 
be encouraged, unless it can be definitely proved that better results can 
be secured from some other type of pavement. It has the advantages 
of smoothness, durability, reasonable first cost, and can be cleaned and 
maintained at small expense. Other references to the requirements for 
good results on car-track streets are mentioned hereafter. 

Local Experience Limited 

Very few types of pavements have been tried out in Norfolk. The 
stone block has been limited to old style blocks without foundation, brick 
to a very small area, wood block to less than five years’ trial, and records 
have not been kept of the conditions under which the pavements have been 
used, and comparison of results obtained have not been made. It is 
recommended th_ 3 t the experience acquired be placed in a form more 
easily available for administrative use. 

Paving Program Should Be Developed 

A definite and consistent paving program must be provided at once 
if the needs of the city are to be served. 


430 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


The considerations controlling- the selection of a pavement for any 
location should be: 

First—That the pavement should be adapted to the needs of the 
street in which it is to be laid. 

Second—That its cost shall be the lowest, not merely the least 
first cost, but the cost based on the whole life of the pave¬ 
ment. 

Noiseless pavements like wood block should be laid in front of 
schools, hospitals and lecture halls or churches; rough pavement on grades 
where heavy horse-drawn traffic is common ; lower priced and less re- 
sistent pavement may be placed on the residence streets. Endeavor 
should be made to pave the streets with material which does not disinte¬ 
grate easily and can be readily cleaned. In general, the type which will 
require least repairing and costs less in the long run should be preferred. 

Commission to Prepare Program 

It is always advisable in the preparation of a program of this nature, 
to guard against local prejudice. Personal antagonism and factional in¬ 
terests are the most dangerous factors in the preparation of a paving 
program. 

It would be advisable to establish a commission, to consist of men 
trained in engineering and finance, to formulate this program, assisted 
by a committee representing the city council, the chamber of commerce 
and other local organizations. Such a committee should assist and advise, 
but have no authority in the determination of the ultimate plan. A com¬ 
mission of three men would be advisable ; one an engineer familiar with 
paving technique, another a man qualified in public works finance, and the 
third the commissioner of public works or a qualified engineer official 
of the department. 

Preparation and Publicity 

It would be advisable to formulate a plan, the carrying out of which 
would be the work of ten years, or at least five. It should include a 
definite statement of the type of pavements to be laid by the city within 
the next three years. It should provide for the continuation annually 
of the study of traffic, living conditions, etc., on the streets included with¬ 
in the plan. It should provide in detail a funding scheme for financing 
improvements. 

The plan should be printed and distributed among citizens interested 
in municipal affairs, in order that its carrying out may be forced, if neces¬ 
sary, over the objections of a changed administration. Too much pub¬ 
licity is impossible. The more citizen interest is aroused a better chance 
there is for the continuation of citizen interest to insure the actual carrying 
out of what has been planned. 

Special Assessments 

The construction of certain classes of improvements results in spe¬ 
cial benefit to the abutting property or the property in the immediate 
vicinity. It is generally admitted that in so far as this benefit can be 
differentiated from the general public benefit, the simplest and most equit¬ 
able method of assessing the cost is directly on the propertv receiving the 


HIGHWAYS AND SEWERS 


431 


benefit, either as a lump-sum payment or in annual installments. Unless 
this is done, the expense of general betterments and the expense of the 
local improvements demanded in a rapidly growing city will greatly 
increase the tax rate or else the general governmental functions will be 
restricted. 

Without the protection of an effective special assessment procedure, 
undesirable practices are sure to develop. Over-zealous or unscrupulous 
real estate operators or owners, consciously or unconsciously prejudiced 
in favor of their own property, may seriously retard the normal develop¬ 
ment of the city through interference with the proper distribution of im¬ 
provements. The question of local or ward influence is one which 
naturally affects all kinds of public works, especially regarding the type 
of pavement to be placed on a previously unpaved street. There is noth¬ 
ing quite so inimical to the development of a city as submissiveness 
to such local influence. Control over general city development by localized 
preferences or prejudices tends to retard the growth of the city. 

The general practice in Norfolk has been to avoid all local assess¬ 
ment for improvements and, since 1902, the state constitution has pro¬ 
hibited such assessment except for sidewalks, alleys, or sewers. Even the 
cost of sewers has not been locally assessed since 1902 and the cost of 
sidewalks only partially. 

The result has been a tremendous drain upon the general funds of 
the city for the betterment of special localities, which could have been 
avoided under a scientific local assessment procedure. 

The general funds of the city have been so depleted by withdrawals 
for the payment of the cost of local improvements that local improve¬ 
ments are no longer authorized without compliance with a curious pro¬ 
cedure that has developed in Norfolk. This procedure amounts to the 
same thing as the prohibited local assessment. Property owners who 
desire a local improvement are required to enter into a formal contract 
with the city agreeing to submit to having their property entered on the 
books at an increased valuation. This increased valuation, which may 
be much more than the true valuation of the property, is made great 
enough to provide increased taxes which shall not only pay the interest 
on the bonds issued for the local improvement, but also enough to retire 
the bonds in twenty years. In this way, the local improvements are paid 
for by the property benefited, but the practice as outlined is an evasive 
one and should be condemned. 

With the city facing a general need for new funds and scanty 
sources of new revenue available, it is highly important that a decision be 
reached on this matter in the near future. 

Modified Special Assessment Policy Recommended : 

To commence to assess all new improvements where such a large 
proportion of the existing improvements have been paid for out of general 
funds, will be manifestly unfair unless provision is made for assessing 
those who have already received the benefits but have not paid for them 
directly. 

It is recommended that a standard rate be set for the benefits per 
unit of measurement, that is, per square yard of pavement area, per foot 


432 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


of sewer, etc., and that all new construction of a permanent type in new 
sections, and all reconstruction or new construction in old sections, be 
assessed for the cost of the work until the total assessment levied for the 
improvement has equalled the standard rate set, after which the city shall 
maintain the work out of general funds. Under such a rule, new sec¬ 
tions will pay, perhaps, the total cost of original improvements, while 
older sections of the city will gradually equalize the relation as resurfacing 
or reconstruction is carried out and equitable results will be secured 
in the end. 

Zone System of Apportioning Assessments: 

To distribute the cost of any improvement over the property benefited, 
the area zone plan is the most equitable known at the present time. It is 
especially applicable to pavement assessment. For example, a common 
highway for a locality may be assessed over the territory benefited by 
trisecting the assessable district about the improvement and establishing 
three zones each bounded by lines approximately parallel to the street 
lines, the first to bear perhaps 50 per cent, of the cost, the second 37^2 
per cent, and the third 12^4 per cent. The amounts borne by each zone 
would be apportioned among the lots according to the area of the lots 
falling within the different zones. 

This method is commonly used in many parts of the country with 
success and assesses the cost more in proportion to the improvement than 
is possible under a frontage plan. 

For sewer assessment, a single zone is used for a common drainage 

area. 

Definite Classification of Pavements Needed: 

As an aid to proper assessing and to distinguish between the relative 
values of pavements, many cities have found a definite classification of 
pavements necessary. Three main classes meet these needs: The first 
class should comprise those improvements including the so-called per¬ 
manent pavement—a term meaning all pavements built in a substantial 
manner but excluding water-bound or oil-bound macadam and gravel 
pavements. The second class would comprise those semi-permanent pave¬ 
ments or light-traffic pavements, including water-bound and oil-bound 
crushed rock or macadam pavements, also pavements of a more perma¬ 
nent nature but inferior to the first-grade pavements. The third class 
would comprise improvements to a roadway such as grading, laying cross¬ 
walks and guttering, where no special attention has been devoted to pave¬ 
ment work proper. 

Standard Specifications Should Include Class Definitions: 

\\ hen the specifications for various kinds of pavement and roadway 
improvement work have been established, care should be taken that a 
separate section be included in each specification, stating specifically the 
class of work. The grading of a street is certainly not a permanent im¬ 
provement, in so far as pavement is concerned, yet unless particular care 
be taken by the city authorities, many property owners will be exempted 
from assessments for the construction of pavements on account of having 
graded the street at their own expense. The grading of a street is a 


HIGHWAYS AND SEWERS 


433 


proper Assessable charge, but payment of the cost of grading any street 
should not relieve owners of the abutting property from an assessment for 
the cost of the first permanent pavement. 

Experimentation with New Types Should Be Limited. 

There is so much experimentation and research work on paving 
materials conducted by the national government, by cities, and by various 
other organizations, that Norfolk should not attempt to install new types 
of pavements extensively until their characteristics and economy have 
been definitely established. 

It is admitted that the laying of key-block pavement was an experi¬ 
ment which will not be repeated. The engineering force was not respon¬ 
sible for this experiment. 

The advisability of including a specification for Durax pavement with 
the other types that are included as acceptable in Norfolk is open to 
question. More should be learned of the quality of this pavement by 
longer observation of those sections which have been laid in this country. 

Existing Specifications Carefully Prepared 

In general it may be said that the existing specifications for the con¬ 
struction of standard types of pavement in Norfolk are above the average. 
The engineering office is to be commended for the care and thorough¬ 
ness exercised in the preparation of these specifications. 

Bitulithic 

The patented pavement known as “bitulithic” has been suggested 
for general use in Norfolk and tried in several places, notably in Park 
Place ward, with fair success. This is one of the best types of bituminous 
road construction known at present for use in outlying or medium traffic 
streets, but the specification of bitulithic which makes probable a higher 
cost because of lack of competition, should not be employed without the 
alternative specification of other types of pavement (unpatented) which 
secure practically the same result. Representative of this type is the so- 
called Topeka specification, and one which has been recently proposed by 
the American Society for Municipal Improvements. 

The decision to use these general types of pavements in preference 
to asphalt is usually dictated solely by the necessity for economy. The 
comparative results obtained indicate that sheet asphalt is more economi¬ 
cal in the end. 

Bituminous Macadam or Penetration Process. 

For outlying sections, the penetration process produces a reasonably 
satisfactory pavement at a low cost. Some of this has been built by the 
city engineer, and the records of the results of its use should be of great 
help in deciding upon a proper type for moderate traffic conditions. 

This type of semi-permanent pavement is perhaps the cheapest type 
of good construction available for use on the secondary streets carrying 
light traffic, where the two desirable factors of low cost and durability 
are attained by its use. The use of bituminous macadam should be 
given careful consideration in any program for future construction. 


(28) 


434 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Granite Block 

The modern, close-joint, standard size granite block pavement with 
a good foundation and well-grouted joints forms, after proper curing, 
perhaps the best type of heavy traffic pavement in general use at the 
present time. Only one block of this type of pavement has been put 
down so far in Norfolk but more should be used in the near future to re¬ 
place some of the present block pavements which were built without 
any foundation. 

Under favorable conditions, the old style blocks can be redressed 
cheaply and used for new construction. Where so much old style pave¬ 
ment is present the old blocks should, upon removal, either be redressed or 
used to replace cobble, or on new streets where the subgrade is not in a 
stable condition. 

Street Railway Area Construction 

The requirement that the street railway companies shall construct 
and maintain between and for two feet outside their rails the same type 
of pavement that is laid in the remainder of the roadway, with no pro¬ 
vision for other construction, should be changed. On heavy traffic streets 
it is very often found that the traffic concentrates on the railway area. 

The concentration of traffic, combined with the action of heavy cars 
upon the rails, makes the proper design and construction of the street 
railway area a matter of great importance. 

The present provision for a concrete foundation under the ties and 
the use of modern heavy grooved rails in the manner set forth in the 
standard specifications accords with good practice, but this is as far as 
the city can go in providing for the conditions which must be met. 

Need for Co-Operation Between City and Railway Company: 

An inspection of the streets showed many places, especially at inter¬ 
sections, where, as the result of construction not adapted to the service 
required or poor workmanship on dr under the tracks, the pavement in 
the railway area was in bad condition. This was especially noted along 
Granby Street where many serious defects were observed. It is under¬ 
stood that this street is still under guarantee and repairs have been 
ordered, but this does not make the need for better methods less urgent. 

Suggestions for Improvement: 

* 4 M 

To carry heavy traffic between the rails, it has been found advan¬ 
tageous and economical to use modern, close-joint, granite blocks with 
cement grout joint filler between the tracks, and sometimes in the space 
between the two sets of tracks where asphalt, wood block or brick pave¬ 
ment is used on the main roadway. The adoption of such construction 
would be advantageous both to the railway company and the city, but 
in case the company does not see fit to assist by hearty co-operation, pro¬ 
vision should be made whereby the city may specify the type of pave¬ 
ment in the railway area. 

Franchise Tax versus Indirect Tax: 

The maintenance of the railway area can be placed entirely in the 
hands of the city employees, and compensation for the cost of this work 


HIGHWAYS AXD SEWERS 


435 


paid b} the company through a franchise tax, based on experience relative, 
to costs or through an assessment of actual costs against the company. 
This method has two advantages, (1) informing the public of the value 
of the sei\ ice rendered, (2) producing better and more economical ser¬ 
vice through centralization of responsibility. 

Toothing Stones or Runners: 

The use of toothing stones or runners has not been consistently car¬ 
ried out along the railways. Many different types have been used, and 
in some places they have been entirely omitted. The use of these stones 
is no longer considered good practice. On asphalt streets more durable 
material than asphalt is preferable between the rails, while with other 
types of pavement either the whole street, including the area between 
the rails, should be paved with the same material, or special and more 
durable pavement should be placed between the rails. 

Inspection of Railway Area: 

Railway area requires more attention than other parts of the pave¬ 
ment. The yielding subsoil makes close inspection of this area necessary 
to prevent excessive damage to the surrounding pavement, and to assure 
the full use of the highway for vehicles. 

It is recommended that special inspection of the paving between rail¬ 
way tracks be made periodically by an inspector of the department of 
public works. 

Street Widths 

The importance of planning for the future expansion of the width 
of paving on streets is well recognized today. To quote from a recent 
report prepared for the board of surveyors of Philadelphia: 

“The modern tendency of street planning is toward 
a marked differentiation between streets intended for 
traffic uses and those for residential purposes. Few 
streets are needed for their maximum width until long 
after their opening. The cost of construction and main¬ 
tenance can be very greatly reduced by paving road¬ 
ways and sidewalks for only such portions of their 
widths as may be needed for traffic purposes in the near 
future, leaving the unpaved space for grass plots and 
trees.” 

The standard practice in Philadelphia of commencing with a road¬ 
way of 18 feet width, but allowing for future expansion, is suggested 
for adoption in the laying out of streets in Norfolk. 

Curbs and Street Corners 

The difficulty of turning a sharp corner with an automobile when 
the radius of the curb is small is evident. The corner curbs provided in 
Norfolk are generally of too short radius, being about six feet. It is 
recommended that this practice be changed and as a suggestion the fol¬ 
lowing extract from the law in New York City is given: 

“On all street corners where the angles between 
the intersecting curbs are more than 80 degrees and 


436 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


less than 100 degrees comers having a radius of 9 
feet shall be used, and where the interior angle formed 
of intersecting curbs is less than 80 degrees the curbs 
having a radius of 12 feet shall be used, and when 
the interior angle is greater than 100 degrees a radius 
of 6 feet shall be used.” 

Gutters. Gutter Crossings and Catch-basins 

W here gutters are not smooth and well paved, the difficulties of 
street cleaning are much increased. W here gutters cross the roadway, 
either very uncomfortable depressions are placed in what would other¬ 
wise be a perfectly smooth pavement or equally unsatisfactory gutter 
bridges or irons must be provided. 

To avoid the necessity of such construction and to improve the 
street drainage, it is generally customary to use catch-basin inlets at 
the comers and take the water £>ff the street without need of its flowing 
several blocks. 

It is recommended that the drainage system be extended and that 
catch-basins be installed, to eliminate the need for gutter bridges and 
depressions where possible. 

Street Signs and Pole Location 

The location and maintenance of street signs and location of poles 
should be included in the work of street design and maintenance. The 
highway division should have charge of maintenance and the location 
and design should be conducted in co-operation with the division of 
design and survey. 

It is recommended that special study of street signs and pole loca¬ 
tions be made in the near future, and a type of sign developed which can 
be more easily maintained than the present type, and that a standard ar¬ 
rangement be devised which will employ poles and lamp posts so that 
the signs may be easily distinguished night or day. 

Contract Versus Municipal Construction of Pavements 

W herever possible competition should be secured between contractors 
and municipal forces by the submission of estimates for work by the city 
force against the bids of contractors. W herever the work can be done 
more cheaply by the municipal force than by contractors good reason 
exists for municipal construction. That this is the case in the construc¬ 
tion of block pavement is certain, and this method of competitive bidding 
should be extended. 

Asphalt Maintenance 

The installation of a municipal asphalt plant and repair of pave¬ 
ments by city employees instead of by contract have apparentlv been 
justified by the results obtained. An analysis of the work done by this 
force on several streets indicates that the following savings have been 
effected: 

1— Less work required because of more prompt attention to re¬ 

pairs. 

2— Less cost per unit repaired. 

3— Xo contract and inspection expense. 


HIGHWAYS AND SEWERS 


437 


These results are similar to those experienced elsewhere in the 
use of municipal asphalt plants under efficient management. 

Need for a New Asphalt Plant 

The construction of the present plant from second-hand materials, 
and the results obtained, are a credit to the initiative of the engineering 
office. With the increase in the demand for such service as the pave¬ 
ments age and guarantees expire, a plant of large capacity and better con¬ 
struction will be required. 

It is recommended that provision be made for securing a new asphalt 
plant and its location in a central place where it will be near the centra] 
shops and barn. 

Use of Rejuvenated Asphalt 

The use of old asphaltic material under careful supervision should, 
theoretically, produce good results. Very considerable work of this nature 
has been attempted by the present force. 

It is recommended that especially accurate record be kept of all such 
work and the results noted over a period of years, both for the benefit 
of Norfolk and other cities. 

Reports and Records 

A very creditable start has been made towards collating highway 
construction and repair records, especially on the repair of pavement cuts. 
These records should be made full and complete. 

Block and Intersection Records. 

For recording construction and maintenance information in sum¬ 
marized form, the block and intersection record system has proved to be 
preferable to other systems. This system uses a separate card for each 
block and intersection of highway pavement. On one side of the card is 
placed a record of the type of pavement, the unit cost, the name and ad¬ 
dress of the contractor, the date of completion, and length of the guaran¬ 
tee period of the original pavement and foundation, together with sum¬ 
marized data on annual maintenance cost, and the area paved over cuts, 
which is secured from the cost accounts of the bureau. On the other 
side space is provided for a sketch of the section paved, for entering the 
area, and for notes on physical data and remarks. 

The use of the term "block,” meaning the portion of the highway 
between curb lines of the street referred to and the nearest curb lines of 
the intersecting streets, and the term "intersection for that portion of the 
roadway at the intersection of two highways which lies outside the curb 
lines, and is common to both streets, enables the administrator to keep a 
standard record which will show results under practically uniform condi¬ 
tions, and serve as a basis for decisions on the need of maintenance or re¬ 
placement. 

The present records of original cost are by contract units or job 
units, and a special search and summary must be made to secure infor¬ 
mation which should be currently available. 

Sidewalks 

Most of the sidewalks in the city have been constructed by the prop- 


438 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


erty owners, but a recent ordinance provides that the council can order 
the improvement, in which case no more than one-third the total cost of 
the improvement shall be charged against the abutting property owners, 
or, upon a petition of not less than three-fourths of the abutting property 
owners, such proportion as may be agreed upon between the council and 
abutting owners shall be charged. Other provisions are included con¬ 
trolling the construction of sidewalks which tend to permit a single owner 
to delay a much needed improvement. 

Initiation of Sidewalk Construction: 

As a matter of public policy the initiation of sidewalk construction 
plans should be placed in the hands of the commissioner of public works. 
It should not be possible for any one property owner to prevent the con¬ 
struction of the improvement. Only by a petition of at least a majority 
of the owners should it be possible to stop construction demanded for 
the good of the particular locality or city as a whole. 

Such a provision should not prevent the construction of a desired 
improvement on petition of a large majority, say three-fourths of the 
owners, even without the initiation of the commissioner. 

Generally sidewalks can be considered as part of the improvement of 
a street and provision for this expense should be co-ordinated with the 
paving of the roadway and the construction of curbs. 

Sidewalk Repair: 

The city is held liable for defective sidewalks. It employs a special 
force for construction and repair, and an inspector of streets to make 
routine inspections. It is evident that all of this work should be brought 
under the control of the department of public works as has been else¬ 
where recommended. The sidewalk repair force should be definitely re¬ 
sponsible to but one superior instead of two as is the case at present. The 
general foreman of sidewalks reports regularly to a member of the board 
of control, and he is at the same time responsible to the city engineer’s 
offices. 

Cost Records Very Good: 

The cost records and the field reports on sidewalk work have been 
very well worked out, and bring job costs and unit costs to the eye of the 
engineer in charge of this work. 

Inspection of Streets and Sidewalks 

It is proposed that the inspection of all public works be centralized, 
and the inspector of streets as an independent office be abolished. 

Wherever permits are required, the cost of inspection should be 
included in the permit fee and service provided by the central inspection 
division of the department. 

Once a year, preferably early in the spring, or oftener if necessary, 
a complete inspection can be made both of sidewalks and roadways by a 
special detail of public works inspectors. This will supplement the work 
of the police and show up at once all necessary work. 


HIGHWAYS AND SEWERS 


439 


Division of Sewers 

The present operations of the engineer’s office relating to the sewers 
and drains are as follows: 

1— Design and construction. 

2— Maintenance and extension. 

3— Steam pumping. 

4— Electric pumping. 

The sewage system consists of a separate system of sanitary sewers 
and a partial system of drains. The larger pieces of construction are. 
generally built by contract. Extensions are constructed by the city forces. 

On account of the very flat nature of the city the sewage must be 
lifted at several points, the suburban stations being automatic electric sta¬ 
tions, while the two main stations are operated by steam, though provi¬ 
sion is made in one for electric operation. 

Design and Construction 

The plan for sewer extensions into new territory is well laid out 
ahead and closely followed in all but a few sections of the city. 

The record of new construction is very well kept both on a general 
plan and in detail. 

Present Records Cumbersome 

The recording of details in a bound book' is not nearly as handy for 
reference as a card index plan similar to that suggested for the division of 
highways, or loose-leaf plans on tracings which can be blue-printed when 
necessary. It is suggested that blank forms of standard size printed on 
tracing cloth be prepared. For indexing, cost recording, and mainten¬ 
ance records a modified block and intersection system can be used by 
referring to the tracings. 

Difficulties of Construction 

The difficulties encountered in laying sewers in a soil as soft and 
full of water as that of Norfolk makes special attention to this work 
essential. The fact that all of the domestic sewage must be pumped 
makes leak-proof sewers necessary to prevent waste of money in operating 
pumps. 

Construction By City Force 

The continuance of construction by a city force on small extensions is 
believed to be good policy, but in all cases proper cost accounts should 
be kept which will show whether the results accomplished are favorable 
to a continuance of this policy as compared with contract work. The 
practice of estimating against contract bids should be tried on the larger 
jobs where it is believed that the city force can do the work to advantage, 
especially on the more difficult sections where the experience gained by the 
city force will be of value. A strict requirement on all such work should 
be that a report be made of the results accomplished including all ex¬ 
penses. 

Special Equipment for Maintenance Force 

The maintenance force, to forestall the expense resulting from delay 



440 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


in reaching serious breaks in the sewers, should have special equipment 
in reserve for emergency duty. This should include everything which will 
be needed especially for night work and for the repair of sewers in wet 
trenches. 

It is recommended that such material be placed at a central point, 
preferably at the central shop recommended in this report, where it 
will be near the garage or stable and can be used by both the sewer and 
water bureau forces. It should be kept always ready for service and in 
reach of the telephone at all times of the day and night. 

Pumping Control 

The present main stations on account of their permanent force work¬ 
ing three shifts per day should keep a definite record of the quantity 
of sewage pumped and a record of the efficiency of the station watch 
by watch. Such records will provide two classes of information for con¬ 
trol over the sewage system. 

1— Indication of excessive flow in the sewer caused by leakage. 

2 — Indication of the efficiency of the various employees. 

The first is part of the data which will be required to determine when 
a survey of leakage should be made. 

The second record should include a log of the station showing coal, 
oil, packing, or other materials used, cost of labor and work done. There 
should be prepared a summary of work and expense, shift by shift, that 
will show the relative efficiency of the men through the unit cost of the 
work accomplished, as, for example, the amount of coal used per million 
gallons of sewage pumped. This record should be kept in front of the 
men, and a bonus in the shape of extra vacation time offered for the best 
results secured. 

Administrative Records: 

The present lack of administrative control over the pumping stations 
will improve with the installation of these records and the daily, weekly, 
or monthly summarizing of results for each station. 

This information should be available, as only through this method 
can a clear understanding of the real conditions be secured and waste 
prevented. 

Venturi Meter: 

The use of a Venturi meter on the discharge pipe of the main 
pumping station will perhaps be warranted, as will the use of a coarse 
screen to prevent large objects passing into the pumps. 

Electric Station Control: 

To provide control over the automatic stations and to show the 
period of action of the pumps and the current consumption, a recording 
device should be provided which will show at what time the pump oper¬ 
ated and for how long and the depth of sewage in the well at each visit of 
the attendant. 

If the attendant must record his visit each time, this device will keep 
the employees more closely under observation and, by a simple calculation 


HIGHWAYS AND SEWERS 


441 


which can be done largely mechanically, will give a record of the quantity 
of sewage pumped. 

New Pumping Station Design 

In the future when it becomes necessary to erect a new central pump¬ 
ing station consideration should be given to the possibility of combining 
it with a rubbish or refuge incinerator and central heating plant for the 
municipal buildings, utilizing steam from the incinerator for the opera¬ 
tion ot the pumping station and heating by exhaust steam. 

The possibility of such an installation has been suggested in this report 
in reviewing tne street-cleaning situation. The removal of the present 
pumping station may prove prohtabie through the increase in the value 
of the present site for other purposes. 

Drainage System Well Under Way 

The construction of covered concrete drains up the main drainage 
channels in the vicinity of the city is good policy. It improves the ap¬ 
pearance of the city and the health of tne community through the clean¬ 
ing and elimination of the mosquito-breeding places. 

Division of Bridges and Waterfront 

The present work on bridges is divided between the inspector of 
streets, who makes repairs to wooden bridges, and the engineer’s office, 
which designs new bridges, maintains the more important ones and 
operates one draw bridge. 

These activities should be included in the work of maintaining the 
highways, as the bridges are a part of the highway system. This is the 
reason for placing the responsibility in the bureau of highways and sewers. 

Cracks and settlement were observed in the bridges. If sufficient care 
is taken to investigate the foundation conditions these should not occur. 

It is recommended that careful tests be made prior to all bridge con¬ 
struction as a part of the survey of the site so that past experience will 
not be repeated. 



BUILDING INSPECTION 


443 


Building Inspection 

(Proposed Bureau of Builders) 





BUILDING INSPECTION 


445 


BUILDING INSPECTION 
(PROPOSED BUREAU OF BUILDINGS) 

There are four agencies now charged with the inspection of certain 
features of building construction: (1) the building inspector passes upon 
all building plans, issues building permits, makes all ordinary inspections 
examines all foundations and as much of the superstructures as his time 
will permit; (2) the plumbing inspector makes inspections of all plumb¬ 
ing work; (3) the superintendent of electrical affairs, in addition to 
his duties as supervisor of the police and fire alarm telegraph systems, 
makes inspections of all electrical work; (4) the city engineer, when 
requested, gives advice upon the structural design of buildings. Obvious¬ 
ly, it would be difficult definitely to place responsibility for a failure of 
all or part of a building, or other similar accident, where so many inspec¬ 
tions by different activities are made. Moreover, there are inspections 
which could be made by one visit of an inspector from a centralized de¬ 
partment which now require two or three visits. Records of inspections 
are kept in three different offices with no correlation whatever. 

The three offices which have to make inspections should be combined 
under the supervision of a building inspector who would be responsible 
for (1) all inspections having to do with the construction, reconstruction 
or repair of buildings, and (2) for maintenance and operation of public 
buildings, since these latter functions are so closely related to his build¬ 
ing inspection. 

Building Inspection 

Building Code 

Norfolk’s present building code does not cover all classes of buildings 
and conditions which may need inspection. It is more a compilation of 
ordinances passed at various times as the council has seen fit. Such a 
code does not adequately provide the first essential of building inspection— 
the standards upon which the inspections may be based. The city has 
realized its deficiency in this regard and at the present time has had pre¬ 
pared a tentative code. It is not the purpose of this report to enter into 
a technical discussion of the code. It will suffice to indicate a few exam¬ 
ples of the need for careful examination and revision before adoption. 
On page 132, for example, of the printed code, Portland cement is speci¬ 
fied to develop a tensile strength of 120 pounds per square inch after one 
day in air, and 300 pounds per square inch after one day in air and six 
days in water. On page 171 it is provided that the cement develop 300 
pounds and 500 pounds per square inch, respectively. Neither conforms 
entirely with the American Society of Civil Engineers specifications, 
which are cited as the governing standards. 

The broad statements that no limestone shall be used in concrete 
and that slag cement be not acceptable are discriminatory and unwar¬ 
ranted. The former excludes a limestone which is used in the middle 
west and in some coast cities and which makes an excellent aggregate for 
concrete. The latter excludes a Portland cement made in the Chicago 
and Pittsburgh districts from blast-furnace slag, which is recognized by 
engineers as a first grade cement. 


446 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


It is recommended that a building code be adopted as soon as pos¬ 
sible, but the tentative code should be subjected to a careful examination 
and revision where necessary before its acceptance. In making this study 
the code should be compared with the National Board of Fire Under¬ 
writers’ standard and other similar codes for cities of Norfolk’s size. 

Lack of Adequate Inspection 

Although it is the duty of the building inspector to inspect all the 
construction features of all buildings erected in the city, it is physically 
impossible for him to do so. The large territory, about sixteen square 
miles, to be covered and the number of buildings being erected, prevent 
the inspection of any of the construction above the foundation, except in 
unusual cases. The inspector is forced to walk or ride on street cars and 
wastes considerable time in this way which should be spent in making 
necessary inspections. The value of the time wasted would pay for a 
small automobile or motorcycle for his use. 

Unless careful inspection of an entire building is made, building in¬ 
spection loses a great part of its value. Safe foundations are harder to 
secure in Norfolk than in many other cities on account of the mucky soil. 
The building inspector is therefore justified in devoting most of his atten¬ 
tion to foundations. But it is impossible for the city to know that the 
proper fire and other precautions for the safety of the future occupants 
of the buildings have been taken unless complete inspections are made. A 
mere examination and approval of the plans is no assurance that the con¬ 
struction will be carried out in accordance therewith. If the new code is 
adopted, as it must be soon, the need for inspection will be increased and 
the present force will be even less adequate. Sufficient inspectors should 
be provided to insure compliance with the code. 

Records of Inspections 

The records of inspections are well kept as far as they go. However, 
they lack entirely information as to any part of the buildings above the 
foundation. This absence of information is a reflection of the inability 
of the present office to control the building problem. The city has no 
record, in most cases, to show that the building was safely constructed 
above the foundation. Complete records should be on file. The present 
form would serve very well if amplified to contain spaces for plumbing 
and electrical inspections. 

Electrical Inspection 

Present Organization 

The inspection of electrical construction and the control of electrical 
contractors are now secured through the department of electrical affairs, 
as has been indicated in the section of this report dealing with the proposed 
division of gas and electricity. The control over this feature of con¬ 
struction has been so well developed and maintained that it now appears 
to be entirely out of proportion to control over other features of building 
construction, not because it is overdone, but because the other features 
have not been adequately developed. 

Any electrical inspector with proper instruction can assist in the 
general building inspection when not too technical and will very soon 


BUILDING INSPECTION 


447 


notice, in his inspection of wiring, any defects in the construction through 
or near which the wire may pass. Likewise on simple electrical work the 
general building inspector can be of great assistance. 

The co-ordination of the electrical and general building inspections 
proposed will provide increased efficiency of inspection. 

Electrical Code 

The use of the “National Electrical Code,” with a few modification; - , 
is in conformity with the best practice and should be continued. 

Control Over Electrical Construction 

The registration and bonding of all electrical contractors and the 
complete system of inspection and records, combined with rigid enforce¬ 
ment of permit authorizations and prohibitions, provide good control 
over electrical construction in Norfolk. 

Field Reporting System 

The utilization of convenient field forms designed to assist the in¬ 
spectors in their work, together with the development of an office system 
for filing, is to be commended. Improvement can be secured by the more 
extended use of standard sizes in the inspectors’ note-books for con¬ 
venience in filing. 


Plumbing Inspection 

Plumbing Inspection Should Be Co-Ordinated with Building 
Inspection 

One of the chief difficulties now encountered in plumbing inspection 
is due to the fact that plumbing plans are not approved until after the 
work is actually installed. The plumbing inspector states that it was in¬ 
tended that all plans should be approved before work is begun, but under 
the present system the application and plans are filed with the request for 
inspection. It was found that owing to the plumbers’ lack of knowledge 
of construction details they were unable to draw plans which would stand 
the test of installation. A plumber frequently finds, for example, that 
extensive changes must be made in his plans due to the location of girders 
and other details of construction. 

To obviate this difficulty, it is recommended that plumbing inspec¬ 
tion be co-ordinated with building inspection in the proposed bureau of 
buildings. The chief plumbing inspector states that, in his opinion, die 
work of plumbing inspection should he carried on under the city engi¬ 
neer’s control because of the necessity in supervising plumbing of being 
thoroughly familiar with the city sewer system. He states that he is 
obliged to visit the city engineer’s office daily to consult with that office. 

Plumbing Inspection Should Be Self-Supporting 

In the fiscal year ending June 30, 1914, plumbing inspection cost 
the city $3,176.50. The chief cost was, of course, for the salaries of an 
inspector at $1,800 and an assistant at $1,200. It frequently happens 
that even after the plumber has notified the inspector that he is ready for 
inspection the inspector finds when he reaches the premises that the 
plumber is not ready for inspection. This means that the inspector 


448 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


must make another visit. For example, on September fifteenth one in¬ 
spection was requested by a plumber at 3808 Bowden Ferry Road and 
another inspection by another plumber at 43 Poplar Avenue. Neither 
of these plumbers was ready for inspection when the plumbing inspectors 
arrived. 

If plumbers were required to pay a fee for inspection based on a 
determination of the average cost of inspection, the number of inspections 
would be considerably reduced. The plumber would not request inspec¬ 
tion until his work was ready to be inspected. The plumbing inspectors 
state that in order to obviate the necessity of making another inspection 
at expense to themselves and to the city they frequently do the actual 
plumbing work necessary themselves. This is of course an economy 
for the inspector, but the necessity for such economy should not exist. I f 
a charge were made for each inspection, the work would be completed by 
the plumbers before calling the inspector. 

If this plan is not considered practicable, then there should be a 
schedule of fines, which the plumbing inspector should collect for failure 
on the part of the plumber to be ready for inspection. Such a schedule 
should be based on the average cost of inspection and should vary with 
the amount of time required for an inspection. That is to say, if the place 
of inspection is at such a distance from the office that two hours are 
required to make the trip and the inspection, it should be charged ac¬ 
cordingly. 

Plumbing inspection is not a matter which is primarily the concern 
of the community. The individual derives the benefit and he should 
therefore pay for it. Plumbing inspection cannot be considered as health 
inspection, for the installation of plumbing has no more relation to the 
health of the community than the installation of gas pipes. 

If either of the two plans proposed should be adopted, the plumber 
should be required to make his request for inspection in writing. The 
present practice is to take such requests over the telephone. It would, 
however, be impossible to prove that a plumber had actually requested an 
inspection if the request were not made in writing over his signature. 

Operation of Building Buildings 

The building inspector is concerned with the care of public buildings 
in addition to his other duties. He must inspect repair work and also 
prepare plans where they are required. The electrical superintendent 
makes electrical installations and repairs in the public buildings. The 
custodian makes minor repairs and cleans the buildings. More definite re¬ 
sponsibility would be secured if the care of public buildings and all repair 
work were placed under the direction of the head of the bureau of build¬ 
ings, and this is recommended. 


WATER SUPPLY 


449 


Water 


Supply 


(Proposed Bureau of Water) 


(29) 







WATER SUPPLY 


451 


WATER SUPPLY 

(PROPOSED BUREAU OF WATER) 

General Water Situation Bad 

The conditions affecting- the water works system of Norfolk are 
unusually complex and unsatisfactory. The chief reasons for this 
situation are: 

1— Shortage of water 

2 — Divided control of the water supply for the city 

3— Partial duplication of distribution system under separate man¬ 

agement 

4— Divided responsibility and lack of cooperation between adminis¬ 

trative bodies and officials in the operation of the municipal 
water works plant 

The shortage of water has been a serious problem for several years, 
and twice an actual water famine has been imminent. This situation is so 
bad as to overshadow all other considerations, but it cannot well be settled 
apart from the controlling conditions. 

The second and third points refer to the three separate plants and 
sources of supply for the city as a whole. The largest of these is owned 
and operated by the city and furnishes water to most of the built-up 
portions of Norfolk proper and practically all of the residential portions 
outside of Berkley, overlapping in many places a second system oper¬ 
ated by the Norfolk County Water Company. This private system sup¬ 
plies a large portion of the seventh ward and nearby territory. The 
third plant provides the only supply available for Berkley and is owned 
by the Portsmouth, Berkley" and Suffolk Water Company. 

Such a condition of affairs is almost entirety the result of the unfore¬ 
seen rapid growth and acquisition of territory by the city. A lack of 
foresight on the part of the city authorities and legislation or adminis¬ 
trative action, which has prevented outlying developments from secur¬ 
ing water from the city system, forced the development of a private 
plant. To make matters worse, the territory in which the Norfolk 
County Water Company is operating has been made a part of the city 
and differences have arisen between the city and the company. The 
trouble is due largely to lack of a definite understanding of the rights 
and duties of each. 

The fourth difficulty has been touched upon in the general discus¬ 
sion of public works activities. It results from the lack of centralized 
responsibility and divided administrative control. 

Municipal System 

The municipal system, the oldest by some twenty years, is handi¬ 
capped in its sources of supply 7 , which limit its extension. Its supply 
is secured from a series of small, shallow, artificial lakes situated about 
five to ten miles east of the city 7 . The water is filtered and pumped 
directly 7 into the distribution system. 


452 NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 

The water works problems of the city will be discussed under the 
following heads: 

1— General administration 

2 — Financial administration 

3— Construction, operation and maintenance of the water works 

system 

4— Inspection 

5— Assessment and collection of rates 

6— City relations with private plants 

General Administration 

Responsibility Should Be Centralized 

The functions of the city’s water works system as now organized 
are graphically shown on Chart G. Its affairs are administered by the 
board of control, subject, however, to legislative jurisdiction by the 
city council. The city engineer also exercises administrative authority. 
One member of the board of control assumes special responsibility for 
the water department, while the other members attend to other depart¬ 
ments. The technical administration of the department is exercised 
bv the the engineer in charge, while its revenues are controlled by a 
chief clerk and audited by the city comptroller. The collections are 
made by a cashier. Each of these officers, except the comptroller, is 
appointed by and is separately responsible to the board of control. 
Other minor functions, such as the operation of a fishing privilege, 
and the sanitary patrol of the water sheds, are, as shown on the chart, 
under the board of control and the health department, respectively. 

The main weakness of the present organization, as has been stated 
in the general public works section of this report, lies in the lack of 
definite administrative responsibility due to the general assumption of 
administrative functions by the council and the division of authority 
with reference to new construction between the city engineer and the 
engineer in charge of the water works plant. 

The recommendations already made propose the placing of general 
administrative responsibility entirely in the hands of one man—a 
commissioner of public works. 

There are three divisions to the operation of the water works—one 
is the technical direction (bv which is meant the construction, operation 
and maintenance of the system) and the others are the assessment of 
rates and the collection of revenues. These are distinct in nature and 
should be performed each under a separate administrative head, if the 
public is to know to whom to look for results and whom to hold 
responsible for inefficiency. 

The technical direction of the department should remain as at 
present in the hands of a single head, who should be a qualified engineer 
responsible to the commissioner of public works. 

The immediate control over the assessment of water revenues 
should be exercised by a revenue accounting officer, who should report 
to the fiscal deputy of the department of public works. 


PRESENT 


BOARD or control; 


»ANIZAriON OF WATENR work"! junctions 

OF TBfCcITY OF- NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


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ADMINI STRATION , 

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PROPOSED ORGANIZATION OF,THE WATERWORKS FUNCTIONS 


OF THE CITY OF NORFOLK VIRGINIA 


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WATER SUPPLY 


453 


The collection of water revenue should be transferred to the office 
of the city treasurer. The relations between these proposed officers are 
represented on Chart H. 

Complaints Should Be Classified 

The procedure relating to the filing of complaints and routine 
reporting to complainants is good, but for administrative purposes a 
classification of complaints and their number should be reported each 
month to the head of the bureau as follows: 

Complaints unsettled at beginning of the month 
Complaints received during month 
Complaints settled during month 

The date of the oldest unsettled complaint should also be noted. Such 
a report will indicate to the head of the bureau the public view of the 
results of the work of the department. 

City Engineer Should Provide Service for Water Bureau 

The responsibility for general engineering and new construction is 
now divided between the engineer in charge and the city engineer. 
Sometimes the city engineer is instructed to perform the necessary 
work, to make studies, to draft specifications and supervise the construc¬ 
tion ; at other times the engineer in charge performs these functions. 

In all operations of this nature the responsible head of the operat¬ 
ing and maintenance force, through his constant contact with the techni¬ 
cal problems of the department and more intimate knowledge of the 
plant, should be better qualified than anyone else to decide upon the 
ordinary construction needs of the plant. He may, however, require the 
assistance and advice of the city engineering forces or may be obliged 
to substitute other similar service. It is good policy, therefore, to 
provide for close cooperation between these two agencies if the re¬ 
sources of the city are to be used to the best advantage on water 
problems. 

To avoid the possibility of friction between these two officials 
and at the same time to ensure a proper coordination of the two func¬ 
tions, the placing of both under the same head is advisable and this has 
been suggested in the formation of the department of public works. 

It is recommended that the employment of temporary draftsmen or 
surveyors be dicontinued in the future, and so far as is practicable 
such service be secured from the central engineering" office proposed as 
the division of design and survey. 

Complete Rules and Regulations Should Be Printed 

No complete book of rules, regulations or rates has been prepared 
for twelve years, and so many changes have been made in that time 
that the old rules are practically useless. The old rules should be 
completely revised and issued in pamphlet form. Other information 
of interest to the consumer should be included, such as explanations of 
the method of reading a water meter, and of detecting waste, and a few 
facts relating to what to do in case of breaks in the mains, discoloration 
of water, lack of pressure, and other emergencies. 


454 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


The preparation of other data relative to the water system and its 
publication in the local papers might tend to create a public interest in 
water department matters. 

Annual Report Needed 

As in the other divisions of public works, the need for an annual 
report is apparent. Fortunately, a partial report on the physical opera¬ 
tions is available, prepared at the request of the mayor by the engineer 
in charge for the year 1912-1913. 

It is recommended that a complete annual report covering all water 
works operations be established for the future. 

Program for Future Action Needed 

The almost continuous investigation of the water works situation 
since 1908 by the engineer in charge, the city engineer, at least three 
consulting engineers, and numerous committees and commissions 
has piled up a mass of reports and records which have confused the 
issue, cost the city about $50,000 and secured no tangible results. This 
is one of the best illustrations of the conditions which must be expected 
under such an organization as now exists. 

Water works plants have so long a life and bear so intimate a rela¬ 
tion to the growth and welfare of a city that the need for comprehensive 
planning for many years ahead is universally recognized. Norfolk 
has no perfected plan for the future of its water works. 

The various reports and past experience indicate that the lakes and 
other available sources of supply will, in the near future, fail to produce 
sufficient water to meet the needs of the city. It is absolutely essential 
that definite steps be taken immediately to secure a comprehensive and 
well considered plan for future action if the growth and development 
of the city and its enterprises are not to be hindered through lack of an 
adequate supply of water. 

Plan for the Future, but Build for the Present 

In order to carry out such a program, it is important that the first 
construction shall provide liberally for the probable domestic, com¬ 
mercial and municipal water requirements of the community over a 
period of ten or fifteen years at least. 

The remainder of the program should provide for additional supply 
which will meet the needs of the community for at least fifty years. 

Interests of Norfolk and Portsmouth Inseparable 

The close proximity of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and even a brief 
study of the water situation, would indicate that the interests of Nor¬ 
folk can hardly be considered separately from those of Portsmouth with¬ 
out risk of injury to both. It is hard to believe that the commercial and 
civic interests of the two cities will allow them to continue for long as 
separate municipalities. 

The present common source of the water supplies of Berkley and 
Portsmouth, the superior water resources already available for Ports¬ 
mouth, the excellent opportunity for increasing this supply, and many 


WATER SUPPLY 


455 


other considerations would naturally suggest to an experienced engineer 
the cooperative development of the water resources in the vicinity. 

Opportunity for Metropolitan Supply Especially Favorable 

A favorable opportunity for developing a metropolitan water sup¬ 
ply exists at the present time and if not seized at once may be lost for 
twenty years, perhaps forever. A few of the reasons for this are : 

1— The approaching termination of the present franchise period in 

both Berkley and Norfolk for the Portsmouth, Berkley and 
Suffolk Water Company 

2 — The automatic renewal clause of the franchises which con¬ 

tinues them in force for twenty years if the works are not 
purchased at the end of the present term 

3— The need for Norfolk’s developing a new supply at once 

Accurate Knowledge Not Available 

Several excellent reports have been prepared. One, by a board of 
water commissioner, with the assistance of Mr. Allen Hazen, presented 
many advantages which would accrue to Norfolk through a metropoli¬ 
tan system. Unfortunately the report, which deals primarily with a 
cooperative development, was an after-thought, and, as stated therein, 
is based upon preliminary information, and is not to be considered in 
the light of a finished or close estimate 

The present situation is so urgent that to work on preliminary 
information in a question of such importance to the city of Norfolk is 
unwise, especially as the accuracy of the preliminary findings has been 
challenged and other plans have been advanced as preferable. 

It is recommended that definite and accurate information be secured 
immediately relative to the possibilites of metropolitan supply develop¬ 
ment. and that this be compared with other possibilities which have been 
presented so that an accurate idea may be secured of the relative value 
of the various projects. 

With the required information once obtained action should follow 
immediately. To employ the best expert service available and not 
to act on the advice secured usually is unfortunate, but in this case 
indecision will cause greater loss than minor mistakes in judgment. 

A Commission With Power To Settle The Problem Needed 

To bring the water supply question to a conclusion seems beyond 
the ability of the council. Much more rapid and satisfactory results 
could be secured by a smaller body provided with ample power. 

It is recommended that a commission be appointed to decide upon a 
program of water works development and instructed to bring back to 
the council a single plan for immediate action. This plan should in¬ 
clude all estimates and supporting data together with appropriation 
bills or ordinances which would be necessary to carry out the program. 

To ensure proper technical assistance the commission should em¬ 
ploy a water works expert to work in conjunction with the city engineer 
and the engineer in charge of the water works. The officials should! 


456 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


prepare all local data as far as possible and advise the expert on matters 
with which they are acquainted. 

Financial Administration 
Financial Policy Not Sound 

To quote from the report on the finances of the city of Norfolk for 
the year ending 1914: 

“Practically all cities today recognize the importance 
of treating municipal-owned utilities separate and 
distinct from the general departments. While 
separate accounts purporting to represent the oper¬ 
ation of the Water Department have been kept, the 
figures do not reflect the true condition for several 
reasons, viz: Only a portion of proceeds of bonds 
issued for water purposes are designated as Water 
Bonds, water extensions and improvements hav¬ 
ing also been provided for in bonds issued for 
general purposes.” 

This indicates an unbusiness like financial policy in the past which 
should be changed. 

Efficient management of a public water works plant should furnish 
water to the city at cost or as near cost as possible, and provide a fair 
distribution of the expense through equitable rates. 

Up to the present time, the city does not know how much capital 
actually is invested in the water system or how much should have been 
paid for interest and sinking fund charges on bonded indebtedness, but it 
has been operating on the assumption that the water works was earning 
a profit, when the opposite may be the case. On the strength of this 
belief, water rates, within the past ten years, have been lowered. 
Furthermore, no attempt has been made to estimate the current value 
of the physical water works plant, and many improvements have been 
made from general fund appropriations. No well operated business 
would be allowed to drift along in .this way, and there is no reason 
why public business should be so handled. As the greater portion of 
the value of a water works is not evident to the general public, special 
care should be taken to secure a sound policy for the proper maintenance 
of the property. 

Appraisal of Physical Plant Required 

With complete records of the capital invested in a water system, 
the age of its several parts, and experience in its maintenance, it is not 
difficult to determine upon a policy which will secure proper results. 

Without actual knowledge of the capital invested and with only 
scant knowledge as to the age or the quality of construction, a determi¬ 
nation of value is necessary before policies can be inaugurated which 
will protect the capital represented, and not over-tax the present genera¬ 
tion. 

On a part of the system, representing principally the older portions 


WATER SUPPLY 


457 


of the plant, fair but incomplete records exist. On other portions, the 
capital invested was obtained by the issue of bonds for general pur¬ 
poses and no adequate records are available which will show how much 
of this money was expended upon water works, or what amount of plant 
was purchased. 

Only by a physical valuation can a proper basis for a future sound 
financial policy be secured, and it is recommended that such valuation 
be made at once. 

Appropriation Policy Good 

The existing practice of turning all revenues into the general fund 
of the city and the requirement that all expenses shall be paid by appro¬ 
priations based upon estimates are commendable. 

Construction, Operation and Maintenance of the Water Works System 

Organization Good, But Plant Conditions Bad 

A general survey of the water shed, filtration plant, pumping 
station, store yard, shop and office indicates, from an organization stand¬ 
point, a well coordinated and generally efficient performance of the 
various functions, in spite of the handicaps under which the department 
has been obliged to work. For these results the engineer in charge and 
his assistant deserve credit. 

From an engineering standpoint the physical condition of the works 
is anything but satisfactory. The entire system needs overhauling. 
The construction in many cases is not of a permanent type. As a 
result, the expense of rebuilding is in many cases necessary. There is 
also a tendency to parsimony in the maintenance of the plant. It is 
impossible to place the responsibility for these conditions upon any 
individual until the authority for changing them is definitely fixed. 

Engineer in Charge Should Centralize Control at City Office 

With the recent shortage of water the engineer in charge has made 
the pumping plant his headquarters to a considerable extent. This was 
advantageous when the main administrative problems were concerned 
with the operation of the numerous pumping plants, and construction 
work was under way at the lakes. This has resulted in laying less stress 
upon the centralization of reports and control over the organization 
at the central office—a condition which should be corrected. The 
location of the station is so far from the city that the general adminis¬ 
trative control over the plant is rendered difficult as is the contact of the 
engineer in charge with the public or with other officers of the govern¬ 
ment, especially with the board of control. 

It is recommended that in the future the engineer in charge central¬ 
ize the control over the organization at the city office by requiring all 
field reports and operating records to be sent there promptly for 
examination and filing. 

Telephone System Should Be Improved 

For the proper control over a water system, especially one which 
depends upon direct pumping, the telephone constitues a very important 


458 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


element and no risk of interruption in this service should be tolerated. 
At the present time but one line is available and the service is poor. 
The interruption of communication during a large fire would be a very 
serious matter. 

It is recommended that a duplicate telephone system be installed. 

Automobile Service Necessary 

Next to a telephone, the most important aid to administration, 
especially in cases of emergency, is rapid and sure means of transporta¬ 
tion. The automobile is the most efifective means available. The 
automobiles furnished for the water department are not now in good 
serviceable condition, as they have been subjected to hard service. 

It is recommended that the automobiles be brought up to standard 
at once, either by purchase of new machines or by thorough overhaul¬ 
ing of the ones now owned. 

Increased Clerical Assistance Needed 

'File assignment of duties among the various subordinate officers 
and employees is good on the whole; responsibility and authority are 
definitely placed. 

The duties of the assistant engineer are, however, too detailed on 
account of lack of sufficient clerical help in the main office. This 
condition should be remedied by the use of a less expensive employee on 
the routine work which will free the assistant engineer for duties of a 
more responsible nature. As there is enough important work to 
warrant this change the appointment of an an additional clerk is 
recommended. 

Water Collection and Storage Works 

The supply lakes formed by constructing dams across salt water 
inlets constitute the water collection and storage works of the system. 
They are connected by a series of canals. The main pumping station 
and filter plant on Lake Wright concentrate the water in this lake by 
means of auxiliary pumps. 

The condition of the existing dams is so serious that immediate 
action should be taken to safeguard the supply. An extraordinarily 
heavy rainfall in the early summer so raised the water that it overflowed 
the two big dams and threatened to wash them away and to leave the 
city of Norfolk entirely without a water supply. This could not have 
happened if the dams had been properly constructed and maintained. 

Earth dams need ample protection against overflow. They require 
strong foundations and protection of the banks and slopes from wave 
action or scouring. These primary principles have been violated in the 
dams of the Norfolk water supply. One minor dam is already demol¬ 
ished and the other two, through the settlement of their crests and 
lack of protection against overflow or wave action, are in grave danger. 

It is recommended that these dams be repaired or rebuilt so that 
there will be no further danger of Norfolk’s losing its water supply. 
By the rebuilding of the Lake Taylor dam, all of the supply now avail¬ 
able can be conserved. 


WATER SUPPLY 


459 


Dredging of Canals Good Policy 

An analysis of the cost of operating the five pumps necessary to 
make the supply of water in the lakes available at the main station, as 
compared with the effect of dredging the canals, which would make the 
operation of these pumps unnecessary, shows conclusively the wisdom 
of the latter course. 

Watershed Inspection Should Be Centralized 

Much better control over the watershed can be secured by central¬ 
izing, under the superintendent of the watershed, the work of the. sani¬ 
tary inspector now employed by the health department, the fishing war¬ 
den and game warden operating the fishing privilege on Lake Smith, and 
the employees engaged in the inspection and maintenance of the struct¬ 
ures around the lakes. There is no reason why many inspections of the 
physical plant such as bridges, roads and ditches, should not be per¬ 
formed by these men in addition to their other duties. With the 
responsibility for supplying good water should go the means for se¬ 
curing all necessary information relative to the watershed. It is recom¬ 
mended that this change in organization be made. (See Chart H). 

Chemist Should Be Employed for Water Purification 

The filters have just been overhauled and the filter plant is in good 
operating condition, except in the case of the clear water basin, which 
is badly in need of repair. The plant is one of the oldest in the country 
and has many defects in design and arrangement which should be cor¬ 
rected in the light of present day experience. If the final plan for ad¬ 
ditional water supply includes the continuous operation of the present 
plant, a thorough study should be made to determine where changes 
will be justified. 

With water so full of organic matter and the frequent occurrence 
of red water trouble, which can perhaps be avoided by close control 
over the application of chemicals, it would be good policy to place 
the operation of the filter plant in the hands of a competent chemist at 
least for a limited period until the present red water conditions are 
corrected. Such a man could be utilized for other general chemical 
work in addition to the operation of the filter plant. 

Reports on Filtration Should Be Improved 

The operating records relating to filtration are not now in such form 
as to give the requisite data. It is believed that a summary and com¬ 
parative record should be placed regularly in the hands of the engineer 
in charge showing the results obtained from day to day, week to week, 
or month to month. 

The plant record should be designed with this object in view. The 
loss in head gauges should be changed so that the record of their dials 
will show loss of head and not available head as is now shown. 

It is recommended that the filter reports and records be remodeled 
and standardized. 

Clear Water Basin Needs Reconstruction 

The present condition of the clear water basin, owing to the failure 


460 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


of the lining and the foundation construction, is so bad that only 
through complete reconstruction can it be made of permanent value. 
The question of reconstruction or repair is one the solution of which 
depends entirely upon the action taken relative to a new water supply, 
but the condition is such that repairs cannot with safety be delayed 
longer. 

It is recommended that this basin be made safe temporarily and 
immediate steps be taken to determine whether it is better to reconstruct 
the present basin or to rebuild at another point in connection with a 
general remodeling of the filter plant. 

Question About Supply Has Held Back Development of 
Pumping Plant 

The present plant gives evidence of rapid growth and constant 
additions. Only such repairs and changes as have been absolutely 
essential have been undertaken in face of the unsolved question of an 
additional water supply. It is recognized that a general overhauling 
of the plant is needed. In all probability it will be economical to re¬ 
place many parts of the plant or even to reconstruct it if continuous 
operation for a long period can be assured. 

The general results as indicated by an examination of the plant 
and the records available indicate efficient operation. The operating 
forces are well organized and cost of operation appears to be low. 
Comparative statistics should be available as a check on costs. 

Coal Storage Facilities Should Be Improved 

The practice of shoveling all coal from the cars to the ground, 
wheeling it to a storage pile and again to the fire room could be avoided 
if an up-to-date coaling station were available. Even a trestle, which 
would eliminate the need for hand unloading, would be an advantage 
and produce a saving in the long run. 

It is recommended that better arrangements be made if the present 
station is continued in service. 

Scientific Purchase of Coal 

The practice of determining the relative heating value of various 
grades of coal and, therefore, securing the most advantageous contract 
for its purchase, is to be commended highly. At the present time, 
determinations of the B. T. U. content of the coal actually delivered are 
made by a private chemist. It has been suggested elesewhere that this 
work should be done by a city chemist. The continuation of this 
method of purchasing is advised. 

Duplicate Steam Lines Needed at Pumping Station 

The lack of duplication of steam lines and the consequent danger 
of a complete shut-down of the pumping service involving the supply 
to the city, should be remedied immediately. Where no reserve for 
supplying water during repairs to pumps is available, as in Norfolk, it 
is essential that reserve equipment be supplied so that all of the pumps 
can never be put out of commission at the same time. 


WATER SUPPLY 


46] 


Immediate rebuilding of the steam mains to give duplicate service 
to every important pump is recommended. 

Continuous Pumping Without Reserve Dangerous 

The condition which makes it necessary to pump directly from the 
filters without any reserve supply of filtered water which can be drawn 
upon in case of an accident to the filter plant should be avoided. It 
makes possible the introduction of inferior or even polluted water into 
the mains. This is of course due to the present state of the clear water 
reservoir which necessitates repairs before it may be made ready for 
permanent use. There is also an absence of any distribution or pressure 
regulating reservoir on the distribution system which might temporarily 
supply the needs of the city. 

Pressure Should Be Raised Automatically on Alarm of Fire 

The pumping pressure at the station is too low ordinarily for fire 
service. The pressure is raised, however, upon request from the fire 
department. 

It should not be necessary to call the pumping station after the fire 
alarm has been received in order to obtain proper pressure. Pressure 
should be raised automatically upon an alarm of fire. 

It is recommended that a connection be made between the fire 
alarm system and the pumping station and that the pressure be raised 
to a fixed point automatically, and higher if requested. 

Comparative Efficiency Records of Station Employees 
Should Be Maintained 

No comparative records of the results secured by various employ¬ 
ees engaged in the same kind of work are attempted. It is recom¬ 
mended that such records, preferably in a graphic form, be prepared, 
especially for the fireman, and that a reward be offered for the best 
monthly showing. 

Pumping Records and Reports Should Be Standardized 
and Completed 

A need for standard methods of reporting and utilizing informa¬ 
tion as to the operation of the pumping station was also noted. 

For example, statistics from which the efficiency of the station may 
be calculated are recorded, but comparative efficiencies of the various 
shifts are not calculated, neither are the unit costs of pumping deter¬ 
mined for the day, week or other period. The pumpage is now secured 
from displacement figures and not from Venturi meter readings. If 
both were recorded, the efficiency of the pumps could be noted and 
excessive slip corrected promptly. 

It is recommended that a complete system of reports be devised 
which will show the results secured per million gallons pumped and 
such other information as is necessary to enable the engineer in charge 
to determine currently the efficiency of the various operations. 


462 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Force Mains Need Valves 

The lack of sufficient valves at the cross connections between the 
two force mains taking the water to the city prevents the shutting off 
of short sections of the main. By the addition of a few valves, the 
present system can be perfected and continuous satisfactory service 
made possible even with a break in one of the supply mains. It is 
evident that the valves already in were expected to provide this service, 
but through an oversight in the plans, an insufficient number was 
placed at each connection. It is recommended that this defect be 
corrected. 


City Force Should Be Used on Extensions 

For all short extensions and very often on long ones, a city force 
can do the work more cheaply than it can be done by contract. 

The results of three jobs done by city forces compared with those 
of four by contractors indicate that the cost by city labor is much less 
than by contract. The contrast is shown in the following: 


No. 

Jobs 


City 3 
Contract 4 


Size Average 
Pipe Length Laid 

Each Job Paving Cost per Foot 
G" 250'' None C $0,006 

G" GOO' None $0.70 


It is recommended that the engineer in charge be empowered to 
perform the work with city forces whenever it can be more cheaply 
done that way. As a general rule, a department estimate should be 
made for comparison with all bids. 


Pipe and Materials Should Be Furnished to Contractors 

In order to secure uniformity in materials, to utilize all short 
pieces or material in stock to the best advantage, and to secure economy 
by purchasing in quanity, it is recommended that all pipe, lead, jute, 
special casting, valves and hydrants be furnished to the contractor. 
This will mean, under the present practice of furnishing a man to do the 
caulking, that all contracts will be for labor alone. 

Piece Work Contracts 

The employment of individuals to dig the trench and backfill the 
same at a fixed price per foot is approved. This method might be 
adopted to advantage in the payment of the city force. 

Class B Pipe Not Needed 

With such light pressures as are used on Norfolk, it is unnec¬ 
essary to use as heavy pipe as Class B. Many plants are using Class A 
pipe for pressures up to one hundred pounds with success. This 
change is recommended especially in the residential sections. It should 
decrease materially the cost of pipe. 

Services Should Always Be Placed Before Pavements 

In some cases, services are not run to each lot before permanent 
paving is laid. This makes it necessary to cut the pavement. The 


WATER SUPPLY 


463 


practice of requiring all services to be laid before paving is recom¬ 
mended as a fixed policy in all af the fast growing sections of the city. 

General Pipe System Records Should Be Completed 

The general system of records with the use of work orders on 
which returns are made for work done is commendable. The system is 
incomplete in many places. It could be improved by the use of conven¬ 
ient notebooks and standardized field forms. 

A card record of all services maintained by the department would 
be useful as would a card index of hydrants and valves showing their 
location, type, cost of installation and maintenance, dates of inspec¬ 
tion, etc. At present, the information necessary for such a file is secured 
but placed on work orders where it is not easily available. Records of 
the type suggested were started but abandoned on account of lack of 
assistance to complete them. 

Time Records Commendable 

The use of daily reports relating to setting meters, making taps or 
laying service is commendable. The records themselves are well de¬ 
signed and should be continued. 

Subsurface Records Should Be Protected and Improved 

The subsurface records are now kept in large bound books and on 
smaller sheets, none of which is protected against loss by fire. These 
records are very valuable and should be carefully preserved. For cur¬ 
rent use, a print should be used and the original kept in a vault. For 
such a purpose, a block and intersection index should be maintained to 
locate records and, as far as possible, a standard size of tracing should 
constitute the original record on which all changes should be noted. 
The present records are some nine months behind and no suitable map 
or location book is provided for general field use. 

Valve Location Book for Field Use Required 

No water department is properly equipped without a complete 
valve location record in the hands of every employee who may be called 
on to operate the valves. At the present time, the only record is on 
the maps in the office ; the memory of the various employees is depended 
upon for current needs. 

Mains Need Cleaning and Renewal 

Many of the older mains are known to be badly encrusted, due 
probably to the pumping of raw water before filtered water was avail¬ 
able. The effect of this obstruction to the flow of the water is so bad in 
some places that only a fraction of the original capacity is now available. 
In one case where a test was made, only one-fourth of the normal capac¬ 
ity was secured. Under such conditions, only inferior service is possi¬ 
ble, involving grave danger in case of fire. 

Another condition, which endangers the fire service, is the use of 
some old and weak sections of pipe which cannot be trusted to carry 
pressures above those commonly used. 


464 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


It is recommended that a survey of the system be made to locate 
such defects and that they be corrected as rapidly as possible. 

The Cause of “Red Water Trouble” Should Be Removed 

The necessity for one man spending his entire time in blowing off 
dead ends on account of red water trouble could be avoided by the 
elimination of the cause of the trouble. More has been said about this 
matter in the section on “Filtration.” 

Pressures Too Low 

The present practice of operating the pumps so that, during the 
hours of minimum consumption, pressures of eighteen to twenty-eight 
pounds are available, and during the hours of maximum consumption, 
thirty to forty pounds, is commendable in the face of possible water 
famine. These pressures are not, however, as high as is generally 
considered necessary for proper fire protection and the limit of forty- 
five pounds set for pressures during fires is not enough to provide 
sufficient service even with the use of steamers to fight a large fire. In 
any new developments of the system, action should be taken to improve 
the conditions governing pressure so that sufficient water will be avail¬ 
able at all times. 


Control Over Consumption Excellent 

As indicated by the table of consumption given below, efficient 
work has been performed in controlling and reducing the use of water. 
These results have been due largely to the almost universal installation 
of meters. Approximately 11,200 out of a total of 13,300 services are 
now supplied through meters. In addition, a limited amount of hose 
and meter testing has been conducted. 


Average Daily 
Consumption 
Year Gallons 
1007 7,344,000 

1912-13 6,493,000 
1915 5,345,000 


Estimated 

Population 

Supplied 

57,800 


63,800 


Gallons 

per 

Consumer 

128 


83.75 


It is evident that the introduction of meters has been entirely justified 
by the results obtained. This policy should be continued in the future. 


Special Meter Installation Results 

1 he low cost of installation of the last six thousand meters put in 
by the department, and the rapidity of the work are creditable to the 
organization and to the control exercised over this work by the engineer 
in charge and his assistants. 

The cost and efficiency records relating to this work were especially 
well developed and undoubtedly had much to do with securing highly 
efficient work by bringing proper information to the supervising officers 
and producing competitive conditions between the various crews. 

Meters Should Be Regularly Removed and Tested: 

The present practice of removing meters for tests only upon recpiest 
or for cause does not guarantee that all meters will be maintained 


WATER SUPPLY 


465 


properly. It is customary in other cities to remove once in two or three 
years every meter which has not been tested during that period. This is 
especially advisable on all large services where the loss in revenue 
through a small inaccuracy is considerable. It is recommended that 
such practice be adopted in Norfolk. 

Fountains and Horse Troughs Should Be Metered 

The fountains and horse troughs which are not now metered should 
be metered, on account of the possibility of excessive waste through 
minor defects in the fixtures. The general metering of all other public 
uses is practiced and there is no good reason why these should be 
excepted. 

Considerable quantities of water are used for street sprinkling. 
No record is now available which will indicate even approximately the 
quantity used for this purpose. It is important that such records be 
kept, for two reasons—(1) to provide a proper basis for charging the 
cost of the service; (2) to provide a means of determining more accur¬ 
ately the total quantity of water actually used in order that an approx¬ 
imation of the total leakage and waste may be secured. Such records 
can be obtained either by a regular report of the number of tank loads 
used per day or by the installation of a water meter on the sprinkling 
cart or other equipment used for this purpose which will measure the 
water delivered. 

Storehouse and Shop Well Maintained 

The facilities and general condition of the storehouse, storeyard, 
and shop show the results of systematic control. Excellent current 
inventory of the stock on hand and carefully kept records of the re¬ 
quisition and return of all materials and supplies through the store¬ 
keeper are now kept. The methods of storing and handling supplies 
are generally excellent. Some improvement can be secured by the use 
of a card system in place of the present book system for inventory and 
stores control. 

Transportation Facilities Should Be Improved 

By the use of a light automobile truck for the repair forces, it 
should be possible to make more efficient use of the time of skilled 
employees and to respond to emergency calls more speedily. The 
present use of horses for all such work is not so economical as the use 
of a light automobile truck which is suggested. 

Police Co-Operation Should Be Improved 

On account of the delays incident to the roundabout transmittal 
of police reports to the water department and the general inaccuracy 
of these reports, it is found that these are of very little assistance. An 
investigation is always made by a special inspector before any action 
is taken. This same trouble has been observed in other parts of the 
public works activities and a need for a general improvement in the 
system and quality of reporting noted. 

Telephone in Teamster’s House 

At the present time, a teamster occupies the house next to the 


( 30 ) 


466 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


storehouse and shop. The stable in which the horses are kept is also 
located near the storehouse. It is impossible to get into communica¬ 
tion with the teamster by telephone after the end of the regular day’s 
work, as the only telephone service is located in the shop. It would 
be a great advantage, especially in cases of emergency which may arise 
outside of the regular working hours, if the teamster could be called 
by telephone and required to get any necessary equipment or supplies 
ready while assistance was being summoned. 

Inspection 

Inspection a Part of Revenue Control 

The inspection requirements of a water system may be divided into 
two classes— 

1— Inspection necessary to safeguard revenue 

2— Inspection made necessary through complaints or the need for 

securing physical information relative to maintenance and 
operation 

The need for a properly controlled inspection to insure the correct 
charging and collection of all revenue is continous and so important 
that it is generally found advisable to place the whole inspection force 
under the control of the water revenue division. 

With such a transfer of inspectors, the needs of the maintenance 
and operation department can be met by well-designed report forms 
and systematic cooperation between the two divisions. The advantages 
gained by placing the inspectors under the control of a single head make 
such a transfer advisable. It is recommended that the inspector and 
cut-off-and-on man now reporting to the cashier, together with those 
inspectors reporting to the assistant engineer, be transferred to the 
revenue division proposed under the new organization. 

Inspection Methods Should Be Revised 

The present method of reading meters, except for the design of the 
readers’ books, is commendable, but ihe special assignment of one 
inspector to flat rate inspection is not justified. All inspectors should be 
used to make any inspection required for the proper operation and 
control of the system. A plan which will distribute the work of inspec¬ 
tion throughout the year instead of allowing it to accumulate at the end 
of each quarter, when meters are read, should be adopted. There is 
no reason why both the clerical and inspection work cannot be equalized 
by reading a certain number of meters every day. The city should be 
districted so that water bills come due at different periods. 

Inspection Records Need Revision and Co-Ordination 

From the records it is not possible to ascertain whether or not the 
inspection work is being carried on efficiently. If inspections are to 
be really valuable to the department, it will be necessary to install a 
complete and well coordinated system of inspection records. The 
inspectors should be provided with small aluminum binders containing 
standard blank forms for the various notes, records and reports which 
they are called upon to make in the field. They should be required to 


WATER SUPPLY 


467 


turn in reports showing the work performed by them during each day. 
These reports should be summarized and tabulated in order to facilitate 
comparison of the work and the efficiency of inspectors. A monthly 
report of the work of each inspector should be prepared and submitted 
by the chief clerk to the fiscal deputy 

Meter reading sheets can be materially simplified and the necessity 
for an inspector to take more than one book into the field each day 
avoided if the present forms are redesigned. There are some disadvant¬ 
ages in allowing an inspector to keep records of past readings in his 
notebook and there is little need of preserving these records for more 
than a few months after they have been transferred to the meter ledgers. 

Large Meters Should Be Read Monthly 

Large meters, on account of the water consumed, recpiire more 
frequent reading than the ordinary house meter. For purposes of 
revenue control such reading should be secured monthly. By this 
method a meter cannot be out of order for a long period without the 
knowledge of the department, an occurrence which makes it necessary 
to estimate consumption from previous figures. 

Hydrants Should Be Regularly Inspected and Oiled 

It is the duty of the water department to maintain fire hydrants in 
proper condition for the use of the fire department. The transfer of 
the inspection of hydrants to the fire department reduces this responsibil¬ 
ity, but the lack of any systematic inspection on the part of the water 
department means that proper maintenance is not insured. It is 
recommended that at least twice per year every hydrant in the city be 
operated and inspected so that it may be absolutely certain that it is in 
good condition and no one should use them without permit from the 
water department except at fires. At the time of such inspection, care¬ 
ful record should be made of all defects which require or may require 
attention, and minor repairs should be made on the spot. In addition, 
all hydrants which are used either at a fire or by permit holders should 
be carefully inspected directly aft*?r their use. 

Valve Inspection Necessary 

Regular valve inspection similar to that outlined above for hydrants 
would obviate the possibility of closed or defective valves in cases of 
emergency. It is recommended that a thorough routine inspection be 
required at least once per year for this part of the equipment. In addi¬ 
tion, a record should be kept in the office showing what valves are open 
and what valves are shut off, for the current use of the officers. 

Assessment and Collection of Rates 
Organization Changes Proposed 

In order that the assessment and collection of rates may be 
definitely separated in accordance with the proposed organization, it is 
suggested elesewhere that the cashier, who now makes the collections, 
be placed in the city treasurer’s office, and that the present billing 
division be enlarged by the transfer of the inspection force to constitute 


468 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


a revenue division. This will involve changes in the office arrangement 
and a revision of the procedure so that the revenue division may be 
located near the distribution division and the cashier enabled properly 
to inform the revenue division of the collections which have been made. 

Standard Meter Rate for All Users 

The standard water rate per hundred cubic feet, whether the con¬ 
sumption be large or small, is in accord with good practice. The rate, how¬ 
ever, should always be determined on a basis which will produce suffic¬ 
ient revenue to cover all operating expenses, maintenance charges, and 
the fixed charges on bonds. The city now has no assurance that the 
present rate provides for such demands and, therefore, it cannot be 
stated that the present rate is the correct one. Only after a careful 
analysis has been made of the needs of the system can a proper rate be 
established. 

“Readiness to Serve Charge’’ Desirable 

The present practice of laying all services and supplying all other 
necessary equipment to residents or business concerns at the city’s 
expense compared with the lack of proper provision for assessing the 
cost of maintaining such equipment when no water is being supplied to 
the premises is not fair to the other rate payers or to the city. It means 
that, whenever for any reason water is shut off from a consumer, the 
cost of maintaining the equipment which has been especially con¬ 
structed for the service of this consumer must be assessed against the 
other rate payers, or the city must make it up out of general taxation. 

It has been found in other communities that an equitable way of 
apportioning such charges is through the establishment of a “readiness 
to serve” charge which shall be paid by the owner or occupant each 
year whether the property is using water or not. This charge is also 
made against all property on which no structures have as yet been 
erected, provided mains and services are available for the use of the 
property. It is believed that the adoption of such a system will be of 
assistance to Norfolk. 

Department Should Receive Hydrant Rental 

At the present time, there are installed on the city system approx¬ 
imately five hundred hydrants for fire protection service for which no 
revenue is received by the department. In addition, there are fifty-five 
hydrants installed on the Berkley system for which the city pays a total 
of $2775 per year. It is evident that, if it is proper for the private 
company to receive a return for the use of the hydrants, some similar 
provision should be made in the operation of the city plant. 

It is conceded by all authorities and a matter of policy with some of 
the state public utilities commissions that the community as a whole 
should contribute to the support of the water works that portion of the 
revenue which is made necessary through the installation of larger 
pipes, hydrants, other equipment, and the operation or maintenance of 
the same for the establishment of proper fire protection. The amount 
varies materially due to peculiar local conditions, but the proper propor¬ 
tion can be determined. The injustice of not assessing such expense 


WATER SUPPLY 


469 


against the city as a whole is apparent when it is considered that all 
property owned in the city whether using water or not receives fire 
protection, while only the rate payers are assessed for it. Those using 
the most water pay the largest proportion of the expense, regardless of 
the amount of protection received. 

It is recommended that an immediate revision of the present 
practice be made so that the cost of fire protection mav be assessed 
against the city as a whole through general taxation, and the rate payers 
assessed only for the expense of providing the domestic, commercial, 
or municipal water supply. 

Private Fire Protection Should Be Controlled 

No charge is made for fire protection lines connected with private 
systems, and only a few of the more recent are controlled through the 
use of meters. These systems fall into the same class of the public fire 
hazards and should bear their proportion of the cost of furnishing such 
service. In addition, precaution should be taken to protect the public 
fire system by refusing to make unnecessarily large connections to the 
mains which might, in case of an accident to the private system, destroy 
the efficiency of the public service. All such connections should be 
metered with proper detector meters which would prevent any illegal 
use of such lines. The remarks in the last section apply to this service. 

Supply for Hose Use Should Be Metered 

The policy of metering all service when hose is used should be made 
universal by prohibiting the use of hose except where water is supplied 
through a meter. Without such provision, it is impossible to prevent 
the waste of water on such services. 

Co-Operation of Building Inspector Needed 

The practice of refusing to grant a permit for a new-building until 
the water charges have been provided for insures proper control over 
this portion of water revenue. But a building may be remodelled and 
enlarged without notification to the water department. As the buidling 
inspector must always be notified of remodelling operations, it would 
be of considerable advantage to the revenue division to have a notice of 
all such work forwarded to it. 

Charges Should Be Made for All Services Rendered 

There is no reason why a nominal charge should not be made for the 
turning on and shutting oft of water, for the installation of meters, for 
the making of taps, and other similar services which are performed 
for individual consumers. Other cities make such charges and are able 
to collect enough money to cover the cost incurrred. In Norfolk, the 
charge for turning on and shutting off is used simply as a penalty and no 
charge is made for other service. This is another instance where serv¬ 
ices rendered for the benefit of individuals should be paid for by them 
and not by the water rate payers as a whole. 

Effect of Meters Reduced by Excessive Rebating. 

The ordinance authorizing the board of control to adjust water 
bills due to abnormal consumption caused by a leak, provides that the 


470 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


board may authorize the reduction of the bill to an amount equal to what 
it would have been on a flat rate basis, if the board is satisfied that the 
leak was stopped as soon as possible. This ordinance and the general 
policy whch has been adopted of making an allowance almost ever)' 
time a complaint is filed is not the only point to be criticised in the ad¬ 
justment of charges. The procedure attached to such action is very 
elaborate and requires entirely too much detailed consideration by the 
board of control. Once a policy has been agreed upon, the details of 
putting it into effect should be delegated to the administrative officers. 
Under the proposed organization, the chief accounting officer of the 
revenue division would be responsible. 

In general, a city should not be held responsible for defects in pipes 
or fixtures beyond the meter which are the property of and under the 
control of the owner or resident. Adjustments should always be made 
on the basis of previous consumption, if such figures are available, 
instead of upon the fixture rates. Generally it is not wise to rebate 
the whole amount, though in many cases it may be fair to divide the 
loss.between the city and the consumer, if it can be shown that the 
consumer exercised all possible precaution against leaks and repaired 
the damage immediately. 

It is recommended that prompt action be taken to insure the full 
benefit of meter installation and to simplify procedure in making re¬ 
bates. 

Penalty for Non-Payment Preferable to Discount for Prompt 
Payment 

The allowance of 10 per cent discount on all bills paid within fifteen 
days unnecessarily complicates the accrual of revenue. The present 
practice is to subtract a discount from all bills and to set up 
the accrued Revenue on the basis of the net amount of the bill. If 
instead of a discount, a penalty were provided, the accruals could be 
made directly from the bills and only in those cases where the con¬ 
sumers pay their bills after the fifteenth would it be necessary to make 
any change, either in the bills or the accounts. Instead of making 
changes in 85 per cent of the bills as at present, it should be necessary 
to change approximately only 15 per cent. It is recommended that this 
change be made, even if it is necessary slightly to reduce the meter 
rates in order that a fair adjustment may be made with the consumers. 

Meter Revenue Ledgers Should Be Improved 

The meter revenue ledgers are not properly controlled and cannot 
be in their present form. They have never been properly balanced. 
These ledgers should be revised so that a balance may be obtained 
quarterly. 

Consumers Entitled to Statement of Account 

Water bills are not sent directly to consumers, only a notice to pay 
being rendered. This makes it necessary for the consumer to go to the 
collection office to learn the amount due, when in many cases a check 
would be sent immediately if a bill were submitted in the first place. It 
also prevents the checking up of the account by the consumer prior 


WATER SUPPLY 


471 


to his arrival at the collection office. A statement of the account 
should be sent to every consumer, instead of the present notice that the 
account is ready. This would not make the procedure more difficult or 
the expense of collections greater if properly designed forms were pro¬ 
vided. 

City Should Pay the Premium on Cashier’s Bond 

The practice of bonding all officers handling money is good policy, 
but the expense of such bonds should be paid by the city. The 
cashier of the water department is now forced to pay $40 per year as a 
premium on his bond. 

City Relations With Private Plants 

The Norfolk County Water Company 

Without entering into an extended discussion of the differences 
which have arisen between the city and the Norfolk County Water 
Company, the fact remains that in many streets of the city two water 
systems have been laid, and the city and the company are now entered 
upon a campaign of destructive competition which never should have 
been possible. Several attempts have been made to settle the differ¬ 
ences, but so far no satisfactory solution has been found. The recent 
effort to secure an appraisal of the company’s plant was defeated 
largely on account of the lack of a definite understanding by the 
council of the object of such an appraisal and the indefinite legal status 
of the company. 

In the meantime, the question is of vital importance to the city 
in the solution of the general water supply problem. It should be 
decided whether the city or the company is to go ahead with the 
development of the service in the territory affected. 

The matter has been so long before the city officials that an 
unbiased decision is difficult to obtain. It is largely a problem of 
water works valuation and can be decided in accordance with well- 
established principles by competent experts. 

The Berkley System 

The Berkley section of the city is supplied with water by the 
Portsmouth. Berkley and Suffolk Water Company. On account of the 
natural geographical separation of Berkley from Norfolk proper, no ad¬ 
vantage can be secured by adding the burden of supplying -this section 
to the already overloaded municipal system until a settlement of the 
problem of an additional supply has been reached. 

There is, however, need for a revision of the present contract 
before it is automatically renewed in 1918 for a further period of twenty 
years as provided under its terms. No attempt was made to analyze the 
contract in detail, but the lack of definite specification of what con¬ 
stitutes a sufficient supply of water for fire protection purposes in 
return for the hydrant rentals paid by the city, may be cited as an 
example of the need for revision. 

It is recommended that a careful study be made of the plant and 
the facilities now afforded by the company so that the provisions of the 
contract may be revised before its renewal in 1918. 



STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


473 


Street Cleaning 


and Collection and Disposal 
of Refuse 


(Proposed Bureau of Sanitation) 













STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


475 


STREET CLEANING AND COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL OF 

REFUSE 

(PROPOSED BUREAU OF SANITATION) 


I he functions of the department of street cleaning' as it is now 
organized include the cleaning of streets, collection and removal of 
refuse, disposal of refuse, cleaning of catch-basins and the care of 
horses and equipment. In order that the present organization may be 
more easily understood. Chart I has been prepared. 

Responsibility Now Divided 

The superintendent of street cleaning is appointed by, and responsi¬ 
ble to, the board of control. There are, however, tw^o places where his 
responsibility is interfered with by outside influences, first, certification 
of all payrolls by the city engineer is required and in the past at least 
it has been customary for the city engineer to exercise some authority 
over the forces of the department; second, a part of the force used in 
cleaning lanes and paid out of street cleaning funds is under the control 
of the inspector of streets who reports directly to the board of control 
and is not subject to the orders of the superintendent of street cleaning. 
Another place wdiere street cleaning functions are entirely removed 
from the supervision of the head of the department is in the Park 
Place \\ ard where this work is conducted under a local board with 
no relation to the city departments. As this arrangement will termin¬ 
ate automatically in 1917 when this ward becomes a part of the city 
government, little attention was devoted to it in the survey. 

City Engineer’s Control Unnecessary 

The reason for the present partial control over street cleaning, 
forces by the city engineer lies in the fact that at some time in the 
past the city engineer was definitely responsible for the administra¬ 
tion of this w r ork. Although with the transfer of this function to the 
board of control his responsibility ceased, some of the original authority 
was retained under the theory that in order to protect the sewers, and 
perhaps the street surface, some control was necessary. This was 
exercised through the certification of payrolls. At the present time the 
payroll certification is a perfunctory matter and the city engineer can have 
no real knowledge as to the accuracy of the payroll and therefore should 
not sign it. In addition, practically no attempt is made to interfere with the 
administration of the department. These facts make it apparent that 
the actual operation of the department are carried out more in accord with 
the requirements of good organization than a summary of the duties of the 
various officers would indicate. P>ut it is recommended that the possibility 
of interference be eliminated as it tends to cause misunderstanding, 
delay, and unnecessary friction between offices. 

Authority of Inspector of Streets Should be Modified 

The principal duties of the inspector of streets prevent him from 
actually supervising the cleaning of lanes and alleys under his jurisdiction. 
The supervision of the cleaning work is provided by the stable superin¬ 
tendent or other officers, and the payroll is made up without reference to 


476 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


or certification by the inspector of streets. Further consideration is 
given to the situation in the section of this report covering the office of the 
inspector of streets,but it is evident that the defect of double supervision 
and divided responsibility should be eliminated. 

Centralized Administrative Authority and Responsibility Needed 

It is recommended that responsibility for the administration of the 
department of street cleaning be more definitely centered in the superintend¬ 
ent and that the authority which goes with such responsibility be definitely 
fixed by the elimination of all double-headed control or other interfering 
agencies. (See Chart J). 

Divisions of Work 

For convenience in the description of the work of the department of 
street cleaning this report will be divided into the following sections : 

1— Street cleaning 

2— Collection of refuse 

3— Disposal of refuse 

4— Care of equipment and horses 

5— General administration 

STREET CLEANING 

The work of street cleaning may be discussed under four general 
heads— 

1— Machine cleaning 

2— Hand cleaning 

3— Special cleaning 

4— Supervision 


MACHINE CLEANING 

The present machine work is for the most part performed by two 
gangs working in and about the business centre, one working days and the 
other nights. The unit of organization consists of— 

1 Foreman 
1 Sprinkling cart 
1 Machine broom 

5-6 Broom men 
2-4 Pick-up carts 

Change in Organization Unit Will Produce Economy 

For the most efficient work with machine brooms on streets of the 
width found in Norfolk two or three machine brooms should be worked in 
the same gang as a battery. This results in a more economical use of 
foremen and sprinkling carts, as one foreman can effectively supervise the 
work of a larger force than he is now supervising, and a single machine 


I 


r —-1 













































































































I 


J 


General 

!_ ADMINISTRATION 1 

| COMMISSIONER 

j_ OFPubuC WO RKS 

I 


PROPOSED ORGANIZATION Op] A BUREAU OF SANITATION 
OF THE CITY OF i NORFOLK VIRGINIA 



























































































































































STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


477 


broom does not keep a single sprinkler busy. An improved organization 
unit would be made up as follows: 

1 Foreman 

1 Sprinkling cart 

2 Machine brooms 
6-8 Broom men 

5-8 Pick-up carts 

Under the present system part of the streets are cleaned during the 
day and part, including the heavy traffic section, during the night. It is 
due to this division of hours of work that only one machine broom is 
assigned to a gang, as it is stated that there is not enough work for two 
brooms at either time. 

Change in Schedule Suggested 

While only a close_ study of the local conditions will give the details 
necessary for the exact plan, it is believed that the routes covered by the 
scheme may be so arranged that the gang may start on the residential 
streets in the evening and work in toward the business section at night, 
completing the day and night areas in one shift. This would permit 
of rearranging the equipment to give the most efficient service, as outlined 
above. 

Reduction in Pick-Up Force Appears Possible 

As compared with the practice in some other cities, it appears that 
too many broom men are used in Norfolk for picking up the stroke of the 
machines. The practice of sweeping away from the curb before piling does 
not appear to be necessary except during a heavy rain. It is recommended 
that an attempt be made to reduce the number of operations involved in 
the present method to such an extent that a reduction of force will be 
warranted. 

Machine Broom Work Not Effective 

Machine-broom cleaning cannot be considered either effective or sat¬ 
isfactory except as an aid to further cleaning. This is especially true in 
the closely built up residential portions of the city where a high standard 
of cleaning is required. Under the best working conditions a machine 
broom will greatly improve the appearance of a dirty street, but it can 
seldom be expected to remove any but the coarsest dirt and refuse. The 
fine dirt, and often a large portion of coarser dirt, is simply spread over 
the surface of the streets, where it drys and is later blown about as dust or 
forms mud on wet days. It is recommended that in the future but little 
extension of the machine-broom work be undertaken and that it be sup¬ 
planted by more modern and effective methods, some of which are out¬ 
lined in the section under “Special Methods.” 

Hand Cleaning 

I 

The use of patrol and block systems in cleaning the more important 
streets and many of the less important smooth pavements is to be com¬ 
mended. This method is regarded as one of the best ways of maintain¬ 
ing clean streets and is generally preferable to machine-broom cleaning. 


478 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


The areas covered by each man under the conditions of traffic and 
pavement surface which were observed compared very favorably with sim¬ 
ilar work in other cities. Dirt piles should be removed more promptly. The 
abandoning of the use of the sweeper’s cart and bag for the picking up of 
the street dirt and the substitution of pick-up carts loading the material 
directly from the piles in the street are not in line with the best practice, 
although the abolishment of the insanitary sweeper’s bag can be com¬ 
mended. 

A street can never be called clean until the dirt has been removed from 
its surface. Piles of sweepings which are permitted to remain on the 
pavement for an hour or more subject to the scattering effect of the wind 
and spreading by traffic or rain produce an unsightly street and generally 
denote inefficient work. After the first cleaning in the morning dirt occu¬ 
pying a relatively small space on the pavement should not be pushed across 
the pavement or along the gutter, with the inevitable spreading of 
some of it, when it is possible to pick it up at once. Even though il 
involves a slightly greater expense, it is better to have the heaps 
picked up within a few minutes of their gathering than to allow them to 
remain on the street. 

Hand Pick-Up Equipment Favored 

The use of a cart and driver in picking up small heaps has generally 
been found to be more expensive than hand pick-up. The placing of 
containers near the main thoroughfares and the reserve capacity thus 
made available for the storage of material will make it possible to so in¬ 
crease the area which a single team will serve that a reduction in cost 
can be secured in Norfolk. This will necessitate the furnishing" of a suf¬ 
ficient number of cans or other containers for each sweeper and a hand 
cart or carrier by which he can transport them from place to place. 
Perhaps the most efficient type of equipment so far developed is the 
double-hand carrier and nestable cans which enable a man to carry- 
empty cans on one end of the carrier while filling one on the other end. 

Brooms Giving Best Service Should Be Purchased 

The ty r pe of broom now in general use, namely, the African bass 
broom, is very efficient and satisfactory in service. The last lot pur¬ 
chased was somewhat shorter and not of a good quality as those 
previously purchased. It is recommended that a careful record be 
kept of the service received from various lots of brooms so that a 
specification may be drawn which will make available the type and 
quality of broom best adapted to the service from the point of view 
of durability, quality of service, and expense. Pan scrapers can be 
used on smooth streets, the pan scraper commonly provided in other 
cities enables a sweeper to cover a much larger area on smooth streets 
and gives excellent results, especially when auxiliary cleaning methods 
are used to remove the fine dirt. It is recommended that such equip¬ 
ment be provided on smooth pavements, for use in rough cleaning 
where the block system is used and for patrol on residential streets, 
and that the area assignment be altered to correspond with the increase 
in work thereby made possible. 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


479 


Special Cleaning 

While carefully conducted hand-sweeping under the block system 
produces very efficient results, it is generally believed that the use of 
auxilliary methods which will remove the fine dust is necessary. At the 
present time, such work can only be done with the aid of water. It is 
hoped that in the future an effective vacuum device will be perfected 
but so far none is on the market. 

The use of water is limited to two methods, first, squeegeeing, and 
second, flushing. On account of the flat grades and the small number 
of catch-basins on the drains in Norfolk, flushing has not been con¬ 
sidered feasible. Three horse-drawn squeegees have been provided and 
are used after heavy rains. It is stated that the reasons they have not 
been more used were the lack of sufficient horses and opposition to 
their use on the part of the city engineer. The objections of the city 
engineer have now been overcome, but horses can only be supplied on 
rainy days. Squeegees should be operated regularly. The use of 
squeegees is common in such cities as Washington and Philadelphia, 
and the results obtained have been very satisfactory. As these 
machines constitute the only effective method available for removing 
fine dust, and as the danger of clogging the sewers is reduced to a 
minimum by their use, it is recommended that they be operated 
regularly. Sufficient horses for this work should be obtained. It is 
suggested that the squeegees be operated in a battery, one machine 
following another and all preceded by a sprinkling cart as the most 
economical method. They should be followed by a pick-up gang to 
pile the material in the gutter, clean out all depressions in the pave¬ 
ment and remove the dirt from the street. 

Catch-Basins Needed 

It is surprising to find practically no consistent plan for the location 
and construction of catch-basins in connection with the street design 
and drain construction in a city where the grades are so slight as in 
Norfolk. 

The city engineer states he has not yet found any type of basin 
which is satisfactory. Other cities with much steeper grades place 
catch-basins at every street intersection to catch the sediment before 
it gets into the sewers, because the cleaning of a catch-basin is a com¬ 
paratively easy matter, while the cleaning of a sewer or drain is both 
difficult and expensive. Catch-basins should be more generally pro¬ 
vided in Norfolk and a recommendation is made that the city engineer 
and superintendent of street' cleaning make a special study of this 
problem and develop an efficient type of basin for use in Norfolk. 

Flushing Is Not Impossible Under Present Conditions 

Even under present conditions flushing is not impossible after 
preliminary removal of the heavier dirt either by a machine broom or 
hand-sweeping. This process will certainly be a simple one when 
numerous catch-basins are provided. 

Limited Hand-Flushing Recommended 

It is recommended that hand-flushing be tried in a section of the 


480 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


business district to determine whether such a method can be safely 
adopted on rough block or other streets where the use of the squeegee 
is either prohibited or difficult. If no attempt is made to drive the 
material along the gutter most of the sediment will settle out before 
reaching the sewer. Such cleaning is especially needed in the vicinity 
of the markets during the summer where washing alone will clean 
effectively. 

A single gang of two men equipped with three lengths of 2 inch hose, 
a reel, a ^ inch shut-off nozzle, which can be changed readily to a 
1 inch nozzle, and other minor equipment should be able to clean 
about thirty thousand square yards of street per day. 

Litter Unusually Noticeable 

The quantity of waste paper and other litter scattered about the 
streets was unusually large at the time of this survey and indicated a 
need for action. This material more than anything else is the cause of 
unsightly streets. 

The remedy lies entirely with the people, not with the officers or 
employees of the department of street cleaning, as this type of material 
constitutes illegal dirt which should not be on the streets. Effective 
work in combating this evil requires public cooperation. The means 
for the elimination of these conditions may be outlined as follows: 

1— Receptacles for the reception of litter placed in 

easily accessible positions where pedestrains can 
dispose of refuse without throwing it into the 
street 

2— A desire on the part of the public to keep the streets 

clean 

3— New ordinances and their enforcement to penalize 

lazy and careless citizens who may abuse the 
streets 

The first requires an appropriation of funds and the purchase of 
receptacles; the second requires publicity and cooperation on the part 
of the citizen ; the third requires cooperation on the part of the police 
department after action of the legislative body. 

Receptacles Have Been Requested 

The street cleaning department has done its duty by recommending 
the purchase of receptacles. It cannot be too strongly recommended 
that funds be provided in support of this request. 

If sufficient funds are provided, it is suggested that the receptacles 
obtained be formed with hoods to keep out the rain as far as possible; 
that they be left open in front so that materials can be thrown into 
them by passing pedestrians without further effort; that they be easily 
emptied by one man ; of durable material; painted a neat color with a 
legend which will catch the eye and impress the public with the need 
for their use; and placed wherever litter is common. The location of 
these receptacles should be standardized as far as possible, so that the 
public may know where to look for them and they should be pro¬ 
tected and their use required by the police. 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


481 


Letting of Advertising Privileges Should Cease 

The letting of advertising privileges on litter cans in return for 
the furnishing and maintenance of the same is very poor policy. It 
tends to disfigure the streets and the return does not balance this loss 
in appearance. 

Scattering of Material from Wagons Needs Attention 

At several points where excavated material, lime, or other material 
had been hauled over the streets, the pavement was observed to be 
much dirtier than it should have been if proper vehicles were provided 
or if careless teamsters with overloaded vehicles and other persons 
responsible were required to remove any unreasonable litter from the 
streets. An attempt should be made to reduce this abuse as much as 
possible. If necessary the use of a permit system may be adopted to 
control the routing of loaded vehicles causing such litter, and a re¬ 
quirement made that the roadway be placed in reasonable condition 
after its use. 


Supervision 

The present practice of requiring all men working in the business 
section and in the ninth and tenth wards to report at the stable every 
day, appears to be a waste of effort for the men working farthest from 
the stable. As equipment of a greater variety is furnished to meet the 
condition of street cleaning, the need for proper section headquarters 
close to the work will become more evident. In the business center 
this need can be met by using the yard or a portion of the present sew¬ 
erage pump'ng station as a headquarters for a part of the street cleaning 
force without interfering with the functions of the station and will 
greatly facilitate the work of the department. Other section head¬ 
quarters should be secured as needed. 

Lane Gang Should Be Responsible Only to the 
Department of Street Cleaning 

The lane gang, consisting of three men and a team, is responsible 
to the inspector of streets, to the foreman in the business section and 
at time to other officers. When it becomes necessary to repair dang¬ 
erous sidewalks, remove trees or perform other emergency work, the 
lane gang is called into service by the inspector of streets, and other men 
must be substituted on their regular cleaning work. These men are 
employed on street cleaning work in order to retain their services for 
special duty in which they have had experience, especially the removal 
of trees. This constant transfer of men from cleaning prevents a 
proper coordination of the cleaning work and should not be permitted. 
These men should be transferred to some other work where they can 
be utilized to better advantage without interfering with regular street 
cleaning. This would be accomplished by transferring them to the 
department of parks, which should have charge of all trees. 

Other changes in organization and supervision will be found in the 
section under “General Administration.” 


(31) 


482 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Collection of Refuse 

A daily collection of garbage, trash and ashes is now made through¬ 
out the entire city. For this work the city is divided into six districts 
and the force organized as shown on Chart 1. These districts, 

1— The business section or four old wards 

2 — Berkley 

3— Brambleton 

4— Atlantic City 

5— Huntersville 

6— Lambert’s Point 

are divided into routes each of which is covered by a garbage cart and an 
ash cart whose drivers collect and load the refuse set out for collection 
and drive it to the dumps or incinerators for disposal. The horses and 
equipment are owned by the city. The ownership of equipment and 
horses by the municipality is generally considered good practice, and 
usually results in substantial saving for the city. There is reason to 
believe that this is true in Norfolk though the absence of complete cost 
records makes it difficult to determine this accurately. 

Present Ordinances Need Improvement 

The present ordinances require that all householders, hotels and 
restaurants shall provide separate receptacles with tight-fitting covers 
for all waste and refuse set out by them for removal by the city, accord¬ 
ing to certain rules and regulations. These rules provide for one 
receptacle for garbage and another for swill and all liquid or semi-liquid 
kitchen refuse, and a third for ashes, dirt, tin cans, bottles, and other 
incombustible waste. They also provide that waste paper and other 
material liable to be blown or scattered about the street shall be tied in 
bundles and deposited either in the receptacle provided for garbage or 
separately in some other receptacle. 

Elsewhere the term “garbage” is defined as including all kinds of 
organic kitchen refuse and waste. 

The rules evidently intend to provide for separation into garbage, 
swill, and ashes or incombustible waste, and the inclusion of a fourth 
class usually known as rubbish with the garbage. The meaning is, 
however, not clear and the resulting practice generally is limited to two 
separations, garbage and trash, except in the business district where 
three or four separations may be made into garbage, swill, ashes and 
trash, and paper and rubbish. 

Definitions Peculiar 

In each case the definitions of the various classes of material as 
generally understood or expressed are not in accord with standard 
definitions or good practice, for example,— 

Garbage is in Norfolk understood to mean the refuse of animal or 
vegetable foodstuffs together with all combustible refuse incident to the 
ordinary conduct of a household, but no incombustible refuse. 

Trash is understood to mean all incombustible refuse and ashes 


483 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


Swill is understood to mean wet garbage which is free from paper 
or other material 

New Definitions Suggested 

To take the place of the above faulty definitions, the following 
more generally understood and clearer definitions should be adopted: 

Refuse shall be understood to be a general term for all classes of 
solid waste as distinguished from liquid waste, termed “sewage,” and 
shall include garbage, ashes, rubbish, street dirt, dead animals, and 
trade waste. 

Household Refuse consists of garbage, ashes, and rubbish from 
private houses, apartment houses, and other buildings used for domestic 
occupancy. 

Trade Waste means garbage, ashes, rubbish, dirt and solid waste 
material from manufacturing plants of all kinds, business buildings, 
power houses, heating plants, stores, warehouses, hotels, restaurants, 
and other buildings or industries conducted for profit. 

Garbageconsists of organic material, such as the animal, vegetable 
and food waste portion of the city refuse consisting of vegetables, 
meat, fish, bones, food, and so forth, from kitchens, markets, slaughter¬ 
houses, and some industries. 

Ashes are the residium from the burning of fuel and contain fine 
ash, unconsumed fuel, cinder and clinker. Saw-dust, floor sweepings, 
broken glass, broken crockery, oyster and clam shells, incombustible 
rubbish, and other inorganic matter may be mixed with ashes for ease of 
removal and disposal. 

Rubbish is discarded trash produced in the household and by busi¬ 
ness concerns which cannot be classified as garbage or ashes. It may 
include among other things discarded paper, old clothing, shoes, rags, 
wood, leather, boxes, barrels, empty cans, metal scrap, broken glass, 
bottles, crockery, etc. 

Street Dirt is the material which is gathered from the surface of 
streets and sidewalks which may be divided into two classes,—legal 
and illegal, the former being that part which should be included under 
“street dirt” and the latter that part which should not be present on 
the street. 

The collection regulation in force merely provides that all garbage 
and combustible rubbish shall be placed in one receptacle; and all ashes 
and incombustible rubbish in a second, and that all bulky combustible 
rubbish shall be placed in a separate bundle or receptacle. 

There is no real difference between swill and garbage. 

Receptacles Control Can be Improved 

The provision requiring metal receptacles for garbage and its 
enforcement by the removal of all wooden receptacles which may be 
put out is to be commended, as is the provision for a receptacle not 
larger than a half barrel. 

The receptacles for ashes and trash can be improved if definite 


484 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


requirements are set forth as to size and character. No wooden 
receptacles for ashes should be used, especially in the central fire district. 
It is important that old or damaged receptacles be prohibited as a pro¬ 
tection for the employees of the department. Cuts are a common 
cause of disability among driyers if such control is not secured. 

Three Separations Should Be Required 

In place of the present rather indefinite requirements for separation, 
it is advisable to provide for separation into three definite classes of 
material as defined under the suggested definitions— 

1— Garbage 

2 — Ashes and incombustible rubbish 

3— Paper and other combustible rubbish 

Such a separation should be rigidly enforced after explanation to 
the people of the reasons for it. 

The separation of rubbish from garbage will assist in collection, as 
much larger vehicles can be utilized for the collection of rubbish than 
for garbage, and the space on the garbage wagons now occupied by this 
material can be used for garbage. This will reduce the haul and 
produce economies. It will also bring more paper to the incinerator to 
assist in the burning of the garbage and provide for a better control 
over the burning. 

Future study of the disposal problem may show that all rubbish, 
both conbustible and incombustible, can economically be brought to a 
central point, sorted, and the valuable portions reclaimed, in which 
case all rubbish should be placed in one receptacle. 

Daily Collection Not Needed 

Except in the most congested business portions of the city a daily 
collection of refuse is not required and is not generally provided in other 
cities. 

Outside the very closely built up portions of the cities it is common 
practice to collect garbage twice or three times per week in the summer, 
when decomposition is rapid, and once or twice per week in winter, 
when it is less rapid. 

Ashes and rubbish are collected usually once per week and in many 
places only once in two weeks in the summer, when the production is 
least. 

Such frequent collections as are now provided mean a spreading 
of the force over the whole city, an increase in the work of the depart¬ 
ment, less effective supervision, more work for the householders in 
putting out the receptacles, and in general greater expense than is 
necessary for satisfactory service without a proportionate gain. In 
fact, through the concentration of the forces under closer supervision 
more satisfactory service is often obtained. 

It is recommended that the number of collections be reduced to the 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


485 


following schedule, except in the business district where daily collec¬ 
tion should be continued : 


Refuse 

Garbage 

Ashes 

Rubbish 


Times Per Week Collection 
Summer Winter 
3 2 

1 1 

1 1 


In some of the outlying territory even less frequent collections are 
necessary. To assist in the collection the force can be worked in 
gangs to advantage in many sections if equipment of greater capacity is 
provided. 


Trucking From Yards to Curb for Future Consideration 

Wherever in the residential portions of the city refuse containers 
are set out along the curb or in the front of the houses in the morning by 
the residents and allowed to stand there all day, the appearance of the 
locality is very materially injured. Again the need for placing recept¬ 
acles near the gates or at the front of the house is the cause of very 
considerable inconvenience on the part of the residents. 

Several cities are now making the practice of taking the receptacles 
from their location at the back of the house, if located in a convenient 
place, and returning then when emptied, thus preventing the disfigure¬ 
ment of the street. This practice adds greatly to the service rendered 
by the collection force, makes the receptacles much more convenient for 
the householders as they are not disturbed until a few minutes before 
collections and are returned a few minutes afterward, and does not in¬ 
crease the cost of collection greatly. 

It is recommended that this system be considered in connection 
with any change in the collection service. 


Use of Gang System on Collection Advantageous 

Where the collection vehicles are large and a loading crew is pro¬ 
vided to load them with a maximum of speed, especially in connection 
with the trucking system for bringing receptacles to the curbs, several 
advantages are secured. 

1— The force can be better supervised by placing 

a working foreman or a subforeman at its head 

2 — Greater flexibility in service can be secured to meet 

changes in the collection requirements as ad¬ 
ditional vehicles and men can be supplied without 
changing the routes 

3— The possibility of accident from lifting heavy con¬ 

tainers is reduced to a minimum 

4— The equipment is utilized in the most efficient way 

Larger and Improved Equipment Needed 

In a city as flat as Norfolk the need for small vehicle to prevent 
overloading of horses is not apparent. The largest element in the 
expense of collection in most parts of the city is cartage. The present 


486 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


carts cannot carry all that even a single horse should haul, and double 
teams with wagons holding about five cubic yards of ashes or garbage 
or twenty cubic yards of paper or other rubbish would be more econom¬ 
ical and easily handled. 

The present equipment is too high for easy loading and the rubbish cart 
should have four wheels in order to take the load ofif the back of the 
horse. 

In Norfolk, where large falls of snow are infrequent, crank axles 
should be adopted and the bodies of the vehicles hung as close to the 
ground as possible, if necessary, using small forewheels hung like auto¬ 
mobile wheels instead of using a fifth wheel as in ordinary wagons. 
This will greatly assist in loading the vehicles by reducing the height 
of lift for receptacles. 

Unloading Devices Economical 

Hand-operated hydraulic or other end-dumping attachments should 
produce decided economies in collection by preventing delays and elimi¬ 
nating the labor now employed in unloading when wagons are over¬ 
loaded. To illustrate, a delay of nearly thirty minutes was observed in 
unloading a garbage wagon on account of an overloading and jamming 
of the contents which held the team, required the services of three 
men and delayed the unloading of another wagon. Provision of 
equipment, ample in size, which can be easily dumped by one man in 
a few moments will eliminate the trouble due to overloading. 

Rubbish wagons holding sixteen to twenty cubic yards of rubbish 
are unloaded in Buffalo and Rochester, N. Y., in two or three minutes. 
It takes from twelve to twenty minutes to unload eight cubic yards 
in Norfolk. The unloading in the other cities is accomplished by 
means of chains attached at the rear of the wagon running along 
the bottom under the load and up in front to a ring which is hung 
at the back of the driver’s seat. By attaching a cable running through 
a pulley above and back of the load to the ring, the whole load is pulled 
out of the back end of the vehicle. Such a provision has been sug¬ 
gested for the present wagons in Norfolk. 

Dustless, Odorless and Covered Equipment Needed 

In all new equipment the advantages of devices for practically 
dustless and odorless collection and the covering of loads to prevent 
littering of the streets and to improve their appearance should be kept 
constantly in mind. 

Changes in equipment in line with the above suggestions are 
recommended retaining the use of horses until hauls are in excess of 
four miles, when some consideration should be given to motor vehicles 
and relay stations. 

Trade Waste Problem Must Be Faced 

The removal free of charge of large quantities of refuse from stores, 
hotels, factories, etc. is not attempted in many large cities because it 
is assumed that the disposal of refuse resulting from a business operated 
for profit forms a legitimate expense of that business which should not 
be assumed by the public at large. 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


487 


Free Removal Inequitable 

It is easy to see that the amount and character of such refuse is 
so great that its removal greatly increases the cost of collection and that 
an equitable distribution of the expense can only be secured by 
directly assessing the cost or requiring that private service be secured. 

In Norfolk the present practice is to remove refuse from hotels, 
stores, and heating plants, but not from factories unless the amount is 
very limited. 

It is recommended that the free collection of trade waste be abol¬ 
ished and in its place a fee system based upon the cost of collection, 
haul and disposal be substituted or the service be secured from private 
parties. Perhaps the most satisfactory system is by means of a ticket 
which entitles the owner to have one barrel or other unit of refuse 
removed. 

Control Over Force Can Be Improved 

The present method of assigning each driver to his own route and 
holding him responsible for the results is good practice and should he 
continued. 

In order to properly appreciate the results which are being obtained 
and to secure better results, it is necessary that the administrator 
be able to visualize the work and distinguish the weak spots. This means 
that in some way he must know whether the drivers are each getting on 
the job promptly, collecting their loads within a reasonable time, driving 
them to the point of disposal without delay, dumping them within a 
reasonable time, and whether the loads hauled are as large as should 
be hauled and whether they contain proper material. At the present 
time there is no effective method of locating the cause for delays, such 
as were observed at the crematory, without actual inspection. 

The amount of refuse collected should be closely determined either 
by weight or volume or both where the unit weight varies greatly. 
Where so many loads are received at one point as at the crematory, the 
use of wagon scales is warranted by the results which can be secured in 
better control both of collection and disposal. 

The crematory foreman should keep a careful record of the material 
received and such other information as is needed, which, when combined 
with the stable or district report, should give a picture of the conditions. 

Refuse Disposal 

The refuse collected in the city is now disposed of in two ways: 

1— Cremation 

2 — Dumping 

All garbage and combustible refuse in both Berkley and Norfolk are 
burned excepting a small portion collected on the outskirts of Norfolk, 
which is dumped on land fills and covered to avoid long hauls. During 
the winter the refuse in Berkley is dumped for several months and the 
crematory is shut down. 


488 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Ashes, non-combustible refuse and the garbage and combustible 
material which do not go to the crematory, are sent to dumps on vacant 
property and marshes. 

Disposal Problem Not Solved 

It was not possible within the scope of the survey to go into a de¬ 
tailed technical study of the refuse disposal problem, but the general 
belief is expressed that the problem is not solved and that further 
consideration must be given to it in the near future. Some sugges¬ 
tions are made as a basis for the collection of the necessary facts for 
use later. 

It is recommended that when the time comes for further considera¬ 
tion of this problem, competent expert advice be secured and placed at 
the disposal of the superintendent of street cleaning and the city 
engineer who should be most interested and able to assist in reaching 
a correct conclusion. 

Quality of Refuse Peculiar 

The garbage delivered at the crematories is peculiar because of the 
large quantity of paper it contains. Its weight is about 930 pounds per 
cubic yard instead of 1100 to 1200 pounds, which is common for 
garbage in many cities. 

As has been stated in the section on refuse collection, some ad¬ 
vantage will be gained by a separation of rubbish from the clear garbage 
and the operation of the crematories will be in no way hindered. 

Crematory Equipment 

The present plant equipment includes one Decarie incinerator 
rated at fifty ton capacity, one two-unit Nye odorless plant and one 
single-unit Nye or odorless plant, each with a rated capacity of from eight 
to twelve tons per day per unit. Of these units the Decarie, which is 
about seven years old, has been practically abandoned, while the Nye 
units have been completed within a year and are in operation. 

Unfortunate Plant Selection 

The Decarie plant, which represents an investment of over $35,000, 
gave very poor results in operation. After operating only seven years 
it is practically useless. It is stated that even under test conditions it 
never disposed of the rated quantity of fifty tons by burning it to ash 
without nuisance and for a cost of less than fifty cents per ton, as is 
claimed for this type of plant. Instead, it has only been able to take 
care of about thirty tons per day and produced an ash so high in organic 
matter, that it continued to decompose on the dump piles. It caused 
complaints of nuisance half a mile away from the plant and the cost of 
operation and repairs was so high that the plant has been practically 
abandoned and replaced by the two-unit Nye plant. In addition to the 
investment of approximately $35,000 for this almost useless plant, the 
city will be paying interest for twenty-two years yet at 4 per cent on the 
bonds sold to obtain money for purchasing it. This experience should 
be a warning against any further action except as a result of careful 
study and good advice. 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


489 


New Plants Now Operating Satisfactorily 

The new plants of the Nye odorless type now in use, one in Norfolk 
replacing the old Decarie plant and the other in Berkley, appear to be 
producing very satisfactory results under present conditions. On ac¬ 
count of the low temperature of combustion and possibility of incom¬ 
plete combustion, especially when large amounts of refuse are charged 
at one time, it is not believed that this plant will continue to give 
sanitary results at its stack or in the ash resulting from the burning. 
Experience in other parts of the country with low temperature plants 
leads to this conclusion, though this particular type is not among those 
referred to. 

It is recommended that before any further changes are made or new 
plants built, a series of engineering and accounting observations be 
made covering all seasons of the year to determine just what results are 
secured. These observations should include among others the follow¬ 
ing points: 

Physical results 

Character of material burned 
Quantity burned 
Temperatures 
Character of stack gases 
Character and amount of ash 
Labor required 
Sanitary results 

Odors, smoke or other nuisance from building or stack 
Sanitary character of ash 
Operating conditions for workmen 
Financial results 

Cost of burning per unit of refuse received 
Cost of disposal of ash 
Fixed charges 

Such information will give a good basis for a decision on the type of 
plant for future purchase. 

Alterations Needed in Present Design 

The unloading floor is in bad sanitary condition, due to the fact that 
refuse has to be dumped on it and to the lack of proper drainage. It is 
also so arranged that easy unloading is interfered with. The stack 
occupies the middle of the floor and takes up valuable unloading and 
storage room. The chance for fire in the storage pile is very great when 
the charging holes are open. 

It is recommended if occasion arises for remodeling that the stack 
and floor be changed; and, in the near future, proper hose connections 
should be added for fire protection. 

Approach to New Plant Needs Pavement 

The approach to the plant should be paved with some durable 
material which will allow heavy loads to be hauled up the grade without 
overstraining the horses. This will allow the use of larger vehicles. 
Close-joint granite blocks with group joints would serve the purpose. 


490 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Rubbish Sorting Should Be Considered 

In a few cities the sorting and reclamation of rubbish are practiced 
which bring in revenue almost sufficient to pay the cost of operating the 
plant. If such a plant can be placed near a factory, public buildings or 
a power plant where the steam generated can be utilized directly or 
employed in generating electricity, very considerable economy is 
possible. One of the best possibilities recently suggested for the 
utilization of this available energy is in the operation of an ice plant. 
It is recommended that careful consideration be given to the possibili¬ 
ties in rubbish sorting, even though incineration with garbage is 
continued; and that special study be given to the opportunity of utiliz¬ 
ing the energy available in connection with the present sewerage 
pumping stations. 

Gaibage Disposal Methods Need Study 

Two methods of garbage disposal are now used—dumping with 
other refuse on land, and cremation. Other methods which are avail¬ 
able are feeding to hogs and reduction. 

Feeding to hogs does not seem to be adapted in any way to Nor¬ 
folk’s conditions, but it is possible that a revenue might be obtained 
from the reduction process if the garbage of Portsmouth and Norfolk 
could be disposed of in one plant. Such a method is considered by 
some authorities as adapted to communities of eighty thousand or more 
people. Only careful study will show whether this method will be 
successful in Norfolk. 

Care of Equipment and Horses 

• 

All horses and large equipment are kept at the department stable 
except those used in Berkley, where a small stable is maintained. 

The main stable is supervised by a stable superintendent who acts 
also as assistant superintendent of street cleaning, while the stable in 
Berkley is supervised by the assistant inspector of streets in charge 
of all work there. (See Chart 1). 

Stable Operation Excellent 

The appearance of the stables, the general scheme of operation 
and the control over the care and feeding of the horses were excellent. 
The amount and kind of forage used are in accord with good practice 
elsewhere, and, when the type of the buildings used is considered, the 
arrangements for watering and caring for sick or injured horses are 
unusually good. 

Better Fire Protection Needed 

With so many horses and so much valuable equipment housed in 
wooden buildings, the single hydrant at one corner of the yard with no 
hose attached cannot be considered sufficient provision against fire. 
At least one more hydrant should be provided, and hose enough to 
reach any portion of the yard should be always attached to the hydrant 
so that it may be ready for immediate use. The hose should be pro¬ 
tected by a small housing. 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


491 


New Stables Will Soon Be Required 

A new stable will be required very soon to replace the present 
stable. When that time comes care should be exercised to so construct 
it that it can easily be remodelled as a whole or in part into a garage 
should motor equipment take the place of horses in the future. 

Horse Records Inadequate 

The records of the purchase and use of horses are inadequate for 
a stable of this size. 

Whenever a horse is purchased a record should be made of all the 
facts relating to the animal for future reference, and these facts, ex¬ 
cepting the financial information, should be posted at the stall. Each 
horse should be numbered and regular reports made of any accident, 
illness or other pertinent circumstances. If the animal is disposed 
of the record should be closed with the particulars relating to the sale. 

To show what results are being secured from the use of horses, a 
record should be kept of all forage consumed and all service rendered bv 
the horses so that the cost of keeping the horses, the amount of idle 
time, the cost per actual horse day for the service actually rendered, the 
cost of sickness, accidents and any other information necessary to show 
just what results are being obtained and to allow comparison with 
other weeks, months or years, should be secured. 

Stable Should Be Considered As a Service Unit 

The stable should be so treated in all accounting and records that 
its service shall stand by itself much as it would if it were a private 
stable supplying the service at cost. All its funds should be secured by 
transfer from the work functions which it serves, such as cleaning of 
streets, collection of refuse, and the removal of snow. Only by such a 
method can the actual cost of the various kinds of work performed be 
secured. 

It is recommended that appropriations be made with this end in 
view, utilizing a rotary fund, if necessary, to secure the necessary 
result instead of appropriating for the labor and supply requirements 
for the work units separately from the horse and equipment needs. 

Veterinary Service Needs Improvement 

The city veterinarian is expected to assist in the care of the 
horses at this stable as well as to perform his other duties. It is be¬ 
lieved that the service of another veterinary should be supplied for the 
stable. 

More Horses Needed 

As has been stated elsewhere, the reserve of horses is so small 
that the squeegees cannot be operated regularly. I his means also that 
no chance is given for resting horses that have been over-worked and 
that emergencies which often come in such work cannot be met without 
sacrifice of service in other directions. It is recommended that such 
a reserve be made available so that efficient administration of the 
service will be made possible. 


492 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Stores Control Lacking- 

All supplies of small equipment are kept in one of the stables. 
No current record is kept of the supply on hand or its distribution. 
This condition should be corrected. Similarly a better control over 
receipt and feeding of forage is needed. 

Record of Life and Use of Equipment Needed 

In order to determine what kinds of equipment give the best 
results it is necessary to keep track of the length of service and result 
obtained from their use. This record compared with the cost will 
indicate the relative efficiency of types or brands of similar equipment. 
These records can be made very simple and will be of great assistance 
in securing good specifications for the purchase of new equipment. 

All Repair Work Should Be Centralized 

The work of repairing equipment should be centralized, if possible, 
for all public works functions, but especially for a department like 
street cleaning. This means that all repair work should be brought 
to the main stable and given the advantage of labor-saving machinery. 
For a department using so many horses, one harness-maker, a general 
blacksmith, a horseshoer, and a blacksmith’s helper are needed, and 
each should help on other work when not engaged on his own specialty. 

The Manufacture of Equipment Not Advised 

The manufacture of equipment by city employees except as a 
means of utilizing the spare time of skilled workmen is not usually 
found to be successful. Generally such equipment costs more than 
when purchased by contract. 

It is recommended that as a general policy such construction be not 
attempted. 

Broom-making and Filling Perhaps An Exception 

Where machine brooms are to be refilled and a competent broom- 
maker can be secured, it is sometimes found wise to make such a 
workman a part of the maintenance organization, but even this should 
not be considered if brooms can be purchased or refilled by contract at 
less expense. 

Stable Superintendent Should Be District Superintendent 

The duties of the stable superintendent are practically those of 
an assistant superintendent of street cleaning. He not only looks after 
the stable but performs much routine supervisory work outside the 
stable and becomes acting superintendent in the absence of the 
superintendent. This is a natural result of starting a large portion of 
the force from the stable and the centralizing of the records there. 

It is recommended that his title be changed to district superin¬ 
tendent, and that some of the details of stable supervision be taken over 
by an assistant foreman who can look after the clerical work at the 
stable and supervise routine, allowing the district superintendent to 
take a more active part in the supervision of the outside work. 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


493 


General Administration 

The general administrative control over the department is evident¬ 
ly effective, but it is handicapped by an imperfect organization, a lack of 
support by the public and an incomplete accounting system. The 
greatest improvement in the administration of the department can be 
secured through the installation of a proper system of accounting which 
will bring to the eye of the superintendent each day, week, month and 
year the results obtained in the previous time period by each unit of 
organization so that the weak points may be quickly located. 

Regular Meeting of Officers Suggested 

In the interest of good management in other cities, it is found very 
helpful to call together all officers regularly for a discussion of depart¬ 
ment problems. Such a practice is suggested for Norfolk. 

Planning Committee Needed 

In street cleaning a large part of the work and the most important 
part is the planning - and laying out of the work in advance. The study 
incident to this requires the best assistance available in the department 
and may require the services of men from other departments temporar¬ 
ily, especially the engineering department, if it is done in the best way. 
After the plans are laid down close inspection and efficient control are 
practically all that is required to secure efficient results. 

It is recommended that a planning committee be appointed by 
the superintendent to work on the plans for next year’s work and that 
the best available talent be drafted to assist the committee. 

Selection of Employees Can Be Improved 

The selection of the employees of the department is not subject 
to any civil service regulations at the present time. Laborers are 
usually hired by the superintendent of stables subject to the approval 
of the superintendent, or by the foreman in the outlying districts. 
Discipline is largely a matter of action on the part of the foreman, 
backed up by the superintendent, together with such action as the 
superintendent himself may take as a result of his tours of inspection. 

This method of selection, discipline, and discharge of men has 
the advantage of making each foreman definitely responsible for his 
own force, but it has the serious defect of subjecting the foremen and 
officers to requests for preference, to the prejudices of friends, or to 
political influence, and very often means that employees are not 
guaranteed a fair hearing when charged with a fault that lies with the 
foreman. 

Physical Requirements Should Be Set 

The work of the department of street cleaning is hard and often 
dangerous. The men must be physically qualified to perform the work 
if the city is to be sure of securing efficient service without unnecessary 
risk of injury or physical breakdown of the employee which will sub¬ 
ject both him and the city to loss. It is recommended that in the future 
arrangements be made whereby a proper physical standard shall be 
set for all employees, and that none shall be certified for appointment 


494 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


who is not physically qualified to perform the work without danger to 
himself or risk on the part of the city, assuming that, in case of injury, 
the city will be obliged to assist in caring for the employee or to 
pension his family in case of death. A physical examination should 
be conducted, if possible, under the supervision of an independent civil 
service commission in conformity with the needs of the service. Such 
examination should take into account the need for active men as 
sweepers, with good eyesight and hearing, who will be able to keep 
on their feet every day in all seasons, and for comparatively tall, 
strong men in the collection service who can lift heavy weights with¬ 
out danger to themselves. 

Probation Period and Instruction Needed 

No men should be hired by the department except upon probation, 
even after the civil service tests have been passed. The civil service 
test can only determine that this man or that man is physically or 
otherwise qualified to do the required work. It cannot make sure 
that the candidate will actually perform the work in a satisfactory 
manner or that he will make a loyal and efficient member of the or¬ 
ganization. To make this selection effective, it is necessary to do 
three things: 

1— Properly instruct him regarding the standard ways 

of performing the work 

2 — Measure his ability under normal working condi¬ 

tions by the same measure which is used for the 
other men of the department 

3— Reject the candidate as soon as it is clearly appar¬ 

ent that he is not up to the standard required by 
the department, or certify him for permanent 
employment at the end of the probationary 
period, if satisfactory 

Standard Methods Should Be Developed 

The first requirement presupposes the establishment of standard • 
methods for the performance of work. These have not yet been 
developed for Norfolk though the superintendent is changing methods 
where evident advantage can be gained. These standard ways of doing 
the various parts of the Avork should be developed as fast as possible 
and written down. A method of determining on standard methods 
suggested is through the conference system whereby the superin¬ 
tendent and his officers come together regularly and discuss the various 
problems, record their agreements or analyze and reach a decision on 
their disagreements. 

Proper Measurement of Candidates Needed 

The second requirement provides that all men be measured by 
the judgment of a single man or a group of men who are thoroughly 
familiar with work of the department, as there are no mechanical 
measuring devices which will determine the relative abilities of various 
men. This requirement really includes two functions—that of stand¬ 
ard teaching or instruction, and that of standard judgment. The 
results of both should be reported upon in writing to the superintend- 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


495 


ent. By such a system at least a partial control can be secured over 
the employment of men before they are placed on the permanent 
payroll. 

Candidates Not Up to Requirements Must Be Dropped 

The third requirement necessitates the immediate rejection of 
candidates when it is demonstrated by trial that they are unfit for the 
service. Only by such control can proper protection for loyal and 
efficient employees, and the public, be secured against lazy or otherwise 
unsatisfactory employees. This also places direct responsibility upon 
a single officer to observe candidates closely, as he must certify them 
as qualified over his signature, which means they must make good 
later in order to justify his conclusions. 

Detailed Records of Employees Should Be Kept 

At the present time no record of employees is kept other than that 
on the payrolls, except in special cases where a memorandum is made 
to the board of control as a result of a special request, or through a 
report on an accident. The memory of officers is depended upon for 
information of this nature. 

A card index or other record should be maintained on which should 
be shown complete data relative to each employee or officer from the 
time of his first application or appointment until he severs his con¬ 
nection with the service. It should show every reference to other data 
in the file bearing on his record. 

White Versus Black Labor 

Aside from the question of right of representation on the part of 
the negro in the governmental activities, the need for the labor of the 
black man in the department of street cleaning is an economic one. 
With an increased demand for men in this work, and a decreasing sup¬ 
ply of able, willing and dependable white labor, the slogan of “the white 
man’s work for the white man” must break down sooner or later. It 
has already been abandoned in all contracting operations and in many 
of the other city departments in Norfolk where labor is used. 

Why an unwritten law should exist which prevents the employ¬ 
ment of the negro in this department, whereas in many other cities he 
gives fully as good service in the same kind of work as can be secured 
from white men, is hard to understand except in the light of political 
considerations. 

It means that white men discharged for drunkenness or incompe¬ 
tence will find their way back to the force whenever the available supply 
of men is limited, and the public pays in the end. 

Compensation 

The present rates of compensation compare favorably with the 
wages paid for similar work in other cities, even for a nine-hour day, 
especially as it is the custom to give regular employees a two-weeks 
vacation each year, and one dollar per day on days when the weathei 
prevents work. 


496 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


The first provision is not usual in our cities, but can be commended 
as only fair and equitable since it places these employees upon the 
same basis as other regular employees. 

The second provision should have practically no bearing, as street 
cleaners should work even more upon rainy or snowy days than upon 
others, for during these times more effective service can be rendered 
than upon fair days. 

It is recommended that this practice be ended and the men be 
required to provide themselves with proper clothing so that they can 
be on the street at work in severe weather or else not paid at all. 

To provide for uniform compensation of regular employees in 
street cleaning or refuse collection work, their compensation should 
be on an annual basis instead of a daily basis. The work of this 
department must be continued every day, rain or shine, and allows of 
less adjustment than most other city work, as can be easily understood 
by imagining the condition if refuse collection were to be suspended for 
a week. Payment on a yearly basis with carefully planned assign¬ 
ments, which must be finished each day whether the employee works 
exactly nine hours or more or less than nine hours, has many of the 
advantages of the bonus system in factories, especially for the collec¬ 
tion forces. 

Need for Gradation in Salaries 

In order that superior service may receive greater recognition 
than inferior service, it is necessary that some system of salary grada¬ 
tion be provided. It is possible to provide for this need in the street 
cleaning service by organizing a group of extra men to be called upon 
for temporary work until a permanent position develops and through 
providing several grades of pay for permanent service in accordance 
with the difficulty of the work, the quality of the work, and the length 
of satisfactory service. By the provision of such salary gradation, 
it is possible for the administrator to reward meritorious service or to 
penalize minor unsatisfactory service effectively without actually los¬ 
ing the men. 

Pensions Must Be Provided 

To make the public service attractive and to assure faithful em¬ 
ployees of proper care when they are unable longer to perform their 
duties, it has been found necessary to provide a pension system in the 
larger'cities. It is believed that this need must be met in Norfolk 
sooner or later, and plans should be made to meet it properly. 

Medical Assistance Advisable 

The common experience of numerous injuries and accident in the 
street cleaning and refuse collection service, makes it necessary that 
prompt and careful attention be given to employees by a competent 
physician so that minor injuries, such as cuts, may not develop into 
blood poisoning, and prevent an employee from working. This care is 
especially required in this department as the grade of intelligence is 
usually such that the employees are not capable of properly taking care 
of themselves, and the public is obliged to support them during the period 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


497 


of their disqualification for service when frequently such lost time 
could be avoided. 

It is recommended that a competent physician be employed during 
such time as may be required to examine and care for the employees of 
the department. 

Uniforms and Badges Should be Required 

At the present time no distinctive uniforms or badges are provided 
for or used by the street cleaning forces. 

Badges should always be provided to enable citizens or officers to 
more easily identify the employee in the field. Such badges should be 
easily distinguishable, properlv numbered and worn in plain sight by 
all employees, including the officers. 

Uniforms for employees in the sanitary services are as much to 
be desired as for the police and fire departments, for several reasons: 

1— They tend to prevent accidents to men working in 

heavy traffic streets 

2— They produce greater self-respect in the organi¬ 

zation 

3— They assist in the supervision of the forces by 

making the men more easily distinguishable to 
the officers 

4— They greatly improve the appearance of the force, 

thereby producing a more attractive city and a 
certain amount of pride in the force among the 
citizens 

5 — They assist in the discipline of the force, especially 

through the agency of citizens who can thereby 
easily distinguish between the city employee and 
private employee, and report negligence or 
breaches of discipline 

The type of uniform should be adapted to the work on which the 
forces are engaged. For sweepers or “white wings’’ it should be white 
in color. For loaders, drivers and dump laborers, it should preferably 
be khaki colored so that the dust will not be too apparent. Water¬ 
proof garments should be provided so that the work can be efficiently 
performed in the rain. Officers’ uniforms should be designed with a 
view toward neatness, simplicity and durability. 

Three methods for providing for the purchase of uniforms are 
suggested: 

1— That the men be required to purchase them at their 

own expense 

2 — That the city purchase them and bear the whole 

expense 

3— That the city purchase them, but that one-half 

the expense be charged against the men 

The first method is very commonly used throughout the country, 


(32) 


498 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


but in Norfolk, where it has not been customary to use uniforms, it 
may be advisable to use the third method for the purchase of the first 
set of uniforms, after which all others should be purchased by the men 
themselves, as under the first method. Each man should be obliged 
to own at least two uniforms, and the officers in charge should make 
an inspection every morning and insist that all uniforms be kept neat 
and clean. 

In purchasing uniforms it is recommended that a contract be 
made for the whole force. An especially good method of purchasing 
by contract is to organize a committee for the preparation of specifica¬ 
tions, and invite representatives from the working force to serve so 
that they may learn for themselves that the uniforms are purchased at 
the best possible prices. By such a method large savings can be made 
over the method of allowing each man to purchase his uniform for 
himself. 

Duties and Responsibility of the Public 

The street conditions are not as good as they should be in Norfolk. 
The streets are badly littered with material thrown there by the public, 
and separation of refuse, so that sanitary collections can be easily made, 
is not required. Equipment is out of date, and not enough funds are 
provided to attain a standard of cleaning which a city like Norfolk should 
demand. 

Department Dependent upon Public Cooperation: 

These conditions exist because the street cleaning department, 
perhaps more than any other department in the public service, is 
dependent upon the cooperation of individuals and the public as a 
whole if it is to secure satisfactory results. Its services are in Norfolk, 
as in most cities, too lightly regarded by the people. A moment’s 
thought will show that these services come in direct contact with and 
promote the comfort and convenience of practically all the people more 
than perhaps any other branch of the city service. The shortcomings 
of the employees of this department are automatically noted and im¬ 
mediately bring forth complaints. 

It has been said truly that the securing of good street cleaning 
service is a financial problem and a problem of cooperation, not an 
engineering or health problem. It constitutes what may be called 
“municipal house-keeping,” and the decision as to whether this house¬ 
keeping shall be well and effectively done lies almost entirely with the 
public. 

Official Effort for Better Conditions Limited in Scope: 

The only control the public officials have over the problem is in 
securing a maximum amount of service for every dollar expended, and 
in making inforipation regarding the work of the department and its 
needs readily available for the public so that it may learn where its duty 
lies. While in a few places an increase in service may be secured by the 
officers, the general results of this study indicate that only minor 
gains will thus be secured. The greatest gain can. be obtained by 
securing more hearty cooperation from the public and other city de¬ 
partments, especially the police. 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


499 


It is recommended that a continuous and definite educational cam¬ 
paign be conducted in cooperation with any other department whose 
assistance can be obtained so that much of the present work caused by 
carelessness on the part of the people will be prevented. This campaign 
should include special attempts to interest the coming generation 
through the schools, and to create a demand for better conditions rather 
than to depend upon the arbitrary enforcement of ordinances. 

Ordinances Should Be Revised 

In order to provide rules for the guidance of the people in proper 
municipal housekeeping methods, simple, definite and reasonable ordin¬ 
ances must be passed by the legislative branch of the government. 
These ordinances must be understood by the public, and, finally, must 
be adequately enforced when individuals do not of their own volition 
conform to them. 

At the present time the ordinances do not clearly define the require¬ 
ments of the departments and need revision. An instance of such need 
will be found in the section on refuse collection of this report where the 
ordinances relating to refuse are discussed. 

It is recommended that all ordinances relating specifically to this 
department be revised carefully with the assistance of the superintend¬ 
ent of street cleaning and the health department, or any other inter¬ 
ested department, so that they may conform to the needs of the street 
cleaning department and insure action on the part of the other depart¬ 
ments. 

Publicity of Ordinances Required 

In order that the people affected may know what rules govern 
the service, all ordinances covering this department should be printed 
and distributed as a part of an educational campaign. The distribu¬ 
tion can easily be accomplished with the aid of the drivers. To prevent 
the destruction of these notices, information of special interest can be 
added, such as the location of fire alarm boxes, etc., or they may be 
made a part of a municipal year book. 

Co-Operation of Other Departments Must Be Secured 

The street cleaning department must secure the hearty cooperation 
of all other departments in the city service which have any contact with 
its problems if needless duplication is to be eliminated and satisfactory 
results obtained. Very considerable improvement in this line is possi¬ 
ble in Norfolk. Once the public policy has been laid down in the 
shape of laws or ordinances, it is the duty of the police department to 
see that these ordinances are enforced, and the courts must apply the 
necessary penalty in order that they become effective. The sanitary 
inspectors of the health department must see that the interests of 
good housekeeping are observed quite as much as the interests of good 
health. The highway department must design and build its streets 
w ith due regard for modern street cleaning methods. The sewer 
department should design and build its sewers as far as possible with 
due regard for the needs of the street cleaning forces, and any depart¬ 
ment digging up or carting material over the streets should observe 


500 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


the same care in preventing- litter that they could observe if they 
themselves were obliged to clean up the streets afterwards. If such 
cooperation is not secured, the department of street cleaning faces one 
of two alternatives—either it must give up attempting to secure efficient 
results and simply keep working at an up-hill job without any expecta¬ 
tion of ever succeeding, or it must substitute for the ineffective coopera¬ 
tion of the other departments some agency responsible to itself, through, 
and by means of which, it can secure the results which should have 
been obtained through the efforts of others. In order to make unnecess¬ 
ary such duplication, and to enable the city to secure coordination of 
service, it is necessary that the lines of responsibility of the various 
departments be drawn rather strictly by some single competent head. 

Police Co-Operation Should Be More Effective 

As usual where public interest is not strong, the police enforcement 
of ordinances covering the street cleaning service has become very 
lax, and the reporting of complaints so slow that it is ineffective. It 
is stated that the transmission of police reports on street conditions 
is so delayed that generally the department receives the information 
from other sources and rectifies the trouble before any notice is 
received from the police department. This can be easily overcome 
by the use of the telephone and the direct transfer of such notices to 
the department without first going through the board of control as is 
the present procedure. 

It is recommended that this change be made at once. 

Complaints Should Always Be Sent to Superintendent 

At the present time there is no systematic record or method of 
handling complaints regarding the work of the department. Com¬ 
plaints communicated directly to the board of control are referred to 
the superintendent, who either investigates them or refers them to other 
officers, while many complaints over the telephone go directly to the 
assistant superintendent at the stable. No attempt is made to keep 
track of their number or character. Complaints form the most accurate 
barometer of the results accomplished by this service. They should all 
come to the attention of the superintendent either individually or in the 
shape of a current summary, and a definite record should be made show¬ 
ing the character of the complaint, the result of investigation, and the 
disposition which was made of it. Under the present system the 
superintendent is losing the advantage of whatever public reaction may 
have been secured by his department. It is recommended that all 
complaints, no matter what their nature, be recorded and in some way 
made available for the information of the superintendent. 

Officers of the Department Should Issue Summons 

The present requirement that an officer of the department who 
observes a violation of an ordinance must first secure a warrant before 
making an arrest, only interferes with the proper enforcement of the 
law. 

It is recommended that the practice in vogue in New York City be 
adopted. There the superior officers of the department are empowered 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


501 


to issue a summons to any offender which makes it necessary for the 
offender to appear in court on the following day to answer to the 
charge. In cases of minor importance, a first notice should be served as 
a warning against recurrence of the offense, if in the judgment of the 
officer an arrest is not advisable. 

Court Co-Operation Required 

Once a summons is issued, or a violation comes to the attention of 
the court otherwise, only by vigorous action can any good results be 
secured. It is essential that only valid cases be brought to the attention 
of the court, but once there the officer should receive hearty backing 
from the court through its cooperation in the enforcement of the law. 

Physical Data and Records Needed 

To facilitate the work of the department the physical data and 
statistics which are commonly used in the laying out of the work should 
be prepared and placed in readily available form for the use of the 
officers. At the present time very little of this information is available 
except as it has been collected from time to time by the superintendent. 
It is recommended that such statistics be prepared and large scale 
street maps be drawn on which the character of pavement and area of 
each block and intersection shall be recorded, together with such other 
information as may be desirable. These maps, or small scale reproduc¬ 
tions of them, can be used as the basis of all of the operations of the 
department. They enable officers to visualize the work. They should 
generally be prepared to show a single geographical unit of organiza¬ 
tion, and may be used either for laying out or recording the assignments 
or work of the field forces. Such maps should be prepared and furn¬ 
ished the department of street cleaning by the city engineer’s office, to¬ 
gether with such other information as it may be able to furnish more 
easily than the street cleaning department. 

Need for Adequate Clerical Assistance Evident 

The lack of clerical assistance has made proper accounting practic¬ 
ally impossible. The accounting work which is now performed is at the 
expense of field supervision, as the supervising officers must keep their 
own accounts. Such a condition would not be tolerated in private 
work and should not be permitted to continue in the public service. 
The wonder is that so much information is now available rather than 
that the system is defective. 

Reports Should Be Simple and Currently Used 

All reports supplying information should be as simple as possible. 
They should be of a size which can be easily handled, preferably some 
standard size which can be filed flat or placed in a loose-leaf binder. 
The reports should be currently used. Many of the present reports 
could be reduced in size and placed in a binder for ready reference. 
All reports should be brought to the central office for filing. 

Suggested Final Organization 

In order to put into effect the general suggestions outlined in this 
report but very few changes will have to be made in the general organi- 


502 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


zation. The suggested form of organization proposed is outlined on 
Chart J. It is to be noted that a reduction in the number of districts 
now used is made from six to five and they are called “sections.” It 
may be possible to reduce the number to four. Only actual planning 
of the organization on the ground will show whether this will be 
possible or not. 

Each section should cover an area which would involve a week's 
work for a single force of collectors, consisting of one paper wagon 
two or three garbage wagons, and the necessary ash wagons together ■ 
with the force of sweepers required on the same area. In the business 
section the work will be that performed in a day, assuming the whole 
main business section is covered every day, and the nearby residential 
section less often. 

Each section foreman should be held responsible for the grade of 
work performed in his section, and whenever the work warrants the 
addition of an assistant foreman one should be added. 

If four sections are used for the organization, it would appear 
that one should include Berkley and be supervised by the district 
superintendent at Berkley, who can look after this work as well as his 
other work; a second should take in the business district and nearby 
territory; a third, the parts of the city near Huntersville and Bramble- 
ton; and the fourth, Atlantic City and Lambert's Point, with provision 
that Park Place Ward make a fifth section Avhen it becomes a part of 
the city. 

District Superintendents ; 

The district superintendent should be responsible for coordinating 
the work of the various sections, for seeing that equipment is properly 
assigned from the stable, and that the refuse is properly disposed of at 
the crematories or dumps. Whenever special work or machine cleaning 
is required covering more than one section, he should see that the 
force perform its work in a satisfactory manner without interfering 
with the section foreman except to see that they are kept informed of 
the plans for such cleaning. 

Administrator Relieved of Much Detail: 

Thus the district superintendent becomes the routine head of all 
work within a geographical division of the city, and the superintendent 
of street cleaning is free to look for weaknesses and plan for improve¬ 
ments. 

Advantages of the Plan : 

Most of the advantages have already been pointed out, but, in 
conclusion, they are outlined again as follows: 

1— Elimination of divided responsibility or authority 

2— Definite duties clearly laid down along the lines 

of responsibility 

3— Concentration of supervision where most required 

4— Relief of bureau head from details which now pre¬ 

vent his planning ahead 


STREET CLEANING, ETC. 


503 


5— Increased service at the same expense 

6— Flexible organization which can be expanded with¬ 

out great change to meet the growth of the city 

Annual Report Should Be Prepared 

The omission of an annual report on the physical performance of 
the department leaves the record of the affairs of the department in 
a one-sided condition. It is possible to determine how much money 
was appropriated or expended, but impossible to obtain any knowledge 
of the service this money paid for. The public is entitled to such an 
accounting. 

Such a report enables the department officials to secure a picture 
of the results they have obtained, and to make a comparison with re¬ 
sults obtained in other years or in other cities, all of which is to the 
benefit of the service. 





PARK FUNCTIONS , 


505 


Park Functions 






PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 


507 


Proposed Department of Parks 





PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 


509 


PARK FUNCTIONS 

PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 

Reorganization 

A study of the following four departments of the city government, 
namely, the department of parks, the playground commission, the com¬ 
mission on beautifying the city, and the department of cemeteries leads 
to the suggestions that they could be consolidated to advantage. The 
municipal machinery would be less complicated if they were consoli¬ 
dated, duplication would be eliminated and responsibility would be 
more clearly defined. 

All four departments have to care for trees, plants or lawns to a 
greater or less extent. Both the park department and the playground 
commission provide recreation, and the commission on beautifying the 
city plans for additional parks and playgrounds. The park depart¬ 
ment and playground commission maintain their properties separately. 

A consolidation of these departments would secure increased facil¬ 
ity in the adoption of plans for park improvement and for the proper 
distribution of park areas among various sorts of recreation. For 
example, although Lee Park and Lafayette Park are well suited for 
playgrounds, no space in them is devoted to supervised play because 
there are no playgrounds in the parks. 

Such a consolidation should be given the title “department of 
parks,” as all of the functions performed by the four existing bodies 
could be suitably located under such a classification. 

Three Forms of Organization Possible for Park System 

In considering the proper administrative head for the enlarged 
department of parks, three alternatives suggest themselves, hirst, a 
commissioner of parks; second, a paid or non-paid board composed of 
members whose terms are coterminous with that of the chief executive 
of the city; third, a non-paid board, the members of which shall have 
overlapping terms. 

Commissioner of Parks: 

In theory it would appear that the best plan of organization would 
provide a single-headed park commission. Provided that the division 
of the municipal government having charge of recreation has been de¬ 
veloped to its proper size and importance, it should not receive greatei 
consideration than any other department, nor be administered differ¬ 
ently. Granted that there is no especial requirement foi different 
administrative treatment, the park commissioner would be the responsi¬ 
ble executive of the system. He would either be elected by the 
people or appointed by the chief executive of the city and would be 
responsible to the electorate. If the recreation needs of the city were 
not attended to, or if the care of parks, playgrounds, street trees, or 
cemeteries were not up to the desired standard, the commissioner con c 
be held to account. 

This argument is based upon the assumption that the majority of 


510 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


the citizens realize the requirements for recreation of the community. 
It also assumes that the voters will exercise the right, if they have it, 
to recall an official who does not give adequate service. However, it 
must be admitted that these conditions have not yet developed in any 
marked degree in American cities. Dilatory officials are usually al¬ 
lowed to continue to the end of terms to which they were elected or 
appointed, even though their retention in office has retarded develop¬ 
ment or seriously interfered with proper maintenance of the properties 
under their charge. The average voter has not yet realized the force 
for good government which he may exert. There is small ground for 
believing that Norfolk citizens would insist that the park commissioner 
immediately prepare plans for additional recreation, and that he should 
endeavor to purchase new properties. There is much greater reason 
to believe that he would be seriously censured if he attempted an 
extensive development. 

The experience of many cities has shown that recreation facilities 
have seldom been given their deserved attention when they could have 
been provided at least expense. Almost all of the cities of Norfolk's 
size and larger have given.little thought to recreation until the city has 
grown to such a size that the expense of property acquisition was almost 
prohibitive. Recreation, both in the form of parks and of playgrounds, 
has been regarded as a luxury which might be side-tracked for more 
apparent necessities. This feeling has obtained as long as the city was 
so small that the country could be easily reached by all or while the 
majority of homes have been surrounded by yards (which are the 
ideal recreation areas). When property values have risen to such a 
point that a large percent of the yards have been sacrificed for buildings 
space, and housing conditions have changed from those of a town 
to those of a city, some of the citizens have awakened to the neglect of 
the provisions for recreation. It then requires particularly strenuous 
efforts to bring recreation up to its proper proportion of city activity. 
Norfolk is now far below the recognized standard requirements for the 
recreation needs of a city. The park area, providing only one acre for 
every 666 persons, is over 13.3 times smaller than the ideal condition as de¬ 
termined by park authorities of one acre for every 50 persons, and it is 
3.33 times smaller than the minimum provision permissible of one acre 
for every 200 persons. The playgrounds have been given but slight 
attention, while the needs of the colored population for recreation have 
not been met. Large expenditures would now be required to bring 
recreation up to a proper standard and the carrying out of a development 
program would require courage of the highest type on the part of the 
administrator. Experience shows that the time required to carry out 
an adequate plan would extend far beyond one administration. 

A study of the development of park systems throughout the country 
clearly demonstrates the effectiveness of courageous leaders in securing 
public realization of the need for recreation. In each of a number of 
cities which have developed large systems, the name of one man stands 
out prominently as the champion of the parks. This is the case in 
Rochester, Kansas City, Indianapolis and many other cities. Generally 
this man was not a paid employee of the city, but a member of a non- 
paid board, giving only part-time service. The non-paid official, 


PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 


511 


acting solely because of his desire and determination to see the city 
secure adequate recreation, has withstood criticism and abuse in the 
early days of development, which the paid political employee could 
not withstand if he cared for his political future. The paid official, 
only in office for a comparatively short time, even if he possesses the 
qualities of a leader, is not able to remain long enough to carry out the 
plans which he inaugurates. The system based on a single com¬ 
missioner of parks should not yet be adopted in Norfolk, for the reason 
that Norfolk has fallen so far behind in its recreational development that 
a special advocacy is required instead. To attempt to increase Nor¬ 
folk’s facilities for recreation will undoubtedly require such special 
advocacy over a period longer than one administration. It would be 
very difficult, if not impossible, to secure a paid appointive or elective 
full-time official who would be of the type required to act as a special 
leader of recreational development. 

Non-Paid Park Board Coterminous with the 
Term of the Mayor 

To secure the leadership essential to the development of recreation 
in Norfolk, a board, composed of members serving without pay, offers 
the most practical solution. The men whose names stand out promi¬ 
nently as the advocates of the great park systems of the country, were 
generally non-paid officials, only required to give a portion of their time 
to the work. Usually they have been business or professional men of 
especially strong character, either retired from business or so situated 
as to be able to give a portion of their time to the duties of the depart¬ 
ment. In no case would they have accepted a paid city office requiring 
full time. Their interest in the position was not pecuniary, but due to 
a desire to see the municipality provide for itself the recreation facilities 
which frequentlv, the taxpayers maintained, were either luxuries or not 
needed at all. If for no other reason then as an agency for securing a 
leader of this type, a non-paid park board is justified. 

The question of term of service of the board members is much 
discussed. The argument is advanced that the board, if coterminous 
with the mayor, more nearly satisfies the American form of represent- 
tative government. The people may have the right then to select all 
of their officials at one time. In general, this argument is sound. 
Experience, however, shows that as far as recreation planning is 
concerned, it has not worked well in practice. The development of 
recreation is of such a nature that it cannot be planned and carried out 
in one or two administrations like the development, for example, of 
a sewerage system, or a water works, or the paving of important streets. 
Parks involve the element of slow growth. It may be twenty-five 
years before they reach the ultimate condition which the planner had 
in mind. Playgrounds involve educational problems and policies. 
These should obviously not change with each administration, whether 
it be two years or four years. Impressing the necessity of recreation 
upon the minds of the public is also a matter of gradual growth. In¬ 
variably, the most violent opposition has met the first efforts toward 
constructive park development; slowly this opposition has given way, 
first, to a passive interest, and then to a strong sentiment for and 


512 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


pride in the recreation facilities which the original planners had the 
courage to provide. A striking example of this is found in Kansas 
City. Here the first president of the board in the early nineties was 
publicly maligned and denounced because of a special assessment for 
park acquisition which the board had ordered;—a short time ago a 
monument was erected to his memory. In the meantime the park 
system has become the pride of Kansas City. This change was not 
brought about instantaneously but required a number of years. In 
Indianapolis, after eight years of strenuous development, the public 
is just beginning to realize what the extensive improvements will mean 
to the city of the future. In Rochester, in New York City when Central 
Park wafe purchased, and in a number of other cities similar conditions 
were experienced. Unless some means had been provided to retain 
these boards in office against the wishes of a large number of people, 
it is not likely that the park systems would ever have been developed 
to the point where they became the pride of all the citizens. 

The board coterminous with the mayor provides the means by 
which a real leader for recreational development ina.v be secured. It 
does not, however, provide the means by which he may be retained. 
In failing to do this, this form of administration loses its effectiveness 
and should therefore be rejected. 

Non-paid Continuing Park Board : 

The only means by which the services of an enthusiastic and cour¬ 
ageous director of recreational development may be both secured 
and retained is by the continuing board. On a board of this type, 
one member is appointed each year and all serve terms of the same 
length. Thus the board is in effect a permanent organization. Its 
policies are not subject to frequent change and it may not only plan 
its work, but also carry its plans through to completion. The advan¬ 
tages of a continuous policy during the development of parks and 
with regard to the supervision and instruction of children on the play¬ 
grounds are so obtained. When a particularly strong character is 
secured as a board member his valuable services may be availed of 
by the city year after year without regard to changing administrations 
or political affiliations. Recreation may then be developed, not in 
“crazy-quilt” fashion, reflecting each change of political fortunes, but 
scientifically and efficiently as a result of intelligent, uniform thought 
constantly employed. The board is always under control because it 
must secure its funds as other departments do. But owing to long- 
service and familiarity with the work to be done, it may make more 
intelligent requests for funds than the constantly changing heads of 
other departments. 

It is therefore recommended that the activities of the proposed 
department of parks be placed under the direction of a board of five 
members to be known as the board of park commissioners, whose 
terms shall be five years and who shall serve without compensation 
other than actual expenses. The members should be appointed by the 
central executive. In addition, the city engineer and the commissioner 
of welfare should be ex officio members. A member of the board 
should be elected chairman annually. 


PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 


513 


The board should appoint a paid executive officer, who may also 
act as secretary, to carry out its orders. This official should preferably 
be one whose education and experience have included civil engineer¬ 
ing, landscape architecture and forestry. He should personally super¬ 
vise, under the direction of the board, the preparation and develop¬ 
ment of park plans, the maintenance of developed park properties and 
playgrounds, and cemeteries, and the care and planting of street, park 
and cemetery trees. A supervisor of playgrounds and a director of 
cemeteries, the latter to supervise the sale of lots, etc., should be 
appointed as assistants. 

Design and Construction 

Purely engineering designs may be as well prepared by the city 
engineer as by special engineers secured for the purpose. Designs in¬ 
volving extensive landscape features should be made by a competent 
landscape architect, or by the executive officer in case one is secured 
who has had a training in landscape architecture. A general park plan, 
which will provide for adequate recreation facilities, should be prepared 
as soon as possible. The preparation of such a plan will make the 
formulation of a work program and the design of minor landscape 
details in the future much easier. 

Where construction work requiring extensive equipment is to be 
done by departmental labor, the department of public works should 
be requested to perform the work with its forces. This will obviate 
the necessity of purchasing much duplicate equipment and tools. Con¬ 
struction contracts and grading work involving ground-shaping, which 
must be worked out as the work proceeds in order to conform to 
the park design, should be done under the supervision of an inspector 
especially fitted to oversee such construction. In order to secure har¬ 
mony with the department of public works, the city engineer should 
be an ex officio member of the board. Similarly the commissioner of 
welfare should be an ex officio member in order that his advice may 
be secured, and the parks and playgrounds so designed as to contribute 
most largely to the public health and welfare. 

Need for Additional Recreation Facilities 

The provision of recreation facilities in Norfolk is woefully in¬ 
adequate. The poor provision made is apparent on a brief considera¬ 
tion of the area available. For example, there is one acre of park land 
for each (566 persons. Eminent authorities on recreation maintain that 
the ideal condition is one acre for each 50 citizens; that a city pro¬ 
viding one acre for each 100 persons has made good provision, while 
one acre for each 150 persons is only fair. The absolute minimum 
which should be considererd, according to these authorities, is one 
acre for each 200 persons. And yet Norfolk is over three times worse 
off than the minimum, and the city is growing rapidly, with the recrea¬ 
tion conditions becoming proportionately worse. The longer additional 
acquisitions are delayed, the greater will be their cost. The city with 
a population of 88,000 should today own, at the very least, 440 acres 
instead of 132.15, while to be on a par with cities which have developed 
adequate recreation facilities it should have between 800 and 1,000 


(33) 


514 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


acres. Statistics collected from twenty-seven cities show ratios rang¬ 
ing from one park acre to 62 persons in Spokane, Washington, to one 
acre to 1,747 persons on Manhattan Island. Fourteen of the cities 
show less than 200 persons; ten, 150 or less, and four, less than 100 
persons per park acre. The latter four are Spokane, Hartford, Kansas 
City, and Minneapolis. All of these cities are frequently cited as 
examples of what intelligent park planning and development can do. 
Each one adopted a plan before making acquisitions and proceeded 
scientifically to develop an adequate system. Each one, incidentally, 
has secured this development through the administration of a con¬ 
tinuing board. 

Recreational Facilities Which Should Be Provided 

The various kind of recreation facilities have so many points in 
common that it is difficult to separate them into classes. A recent 
paper read by Mr. Henry V. Hubbard before the national conference 
on city planning included a classification which is in general satisfac¬ 
tory. The divisions are as follows: 

“1—The reservation, a municipal holding of country land, perhaps 
in connection with city forests or city water supply, made 
accessible by roads, it may be, but not yet developed for inten¬ 
sive recreational use, and frequented mostly by picnic parties 
and others spending several hours at a time in the open. 

2— The large park, or “country park” designed to give, as far as is 

consistent with fairly intensive use, all the sense of freedom 
that the unspoiled country gives and being the nearest thing to 
unspoiled country that most of the city dwellers can commonly 
take time to enjoy. It is fitted to receive large crowds and not 
to be destroyed by them and indeed not to be crowded by them, 
for its main use is still to relieve a man from too close contact 
with his fellows. 

3— The small park, or “ intown park,” more accessible but less 

extensive, not pretending to a countrified appearance, but de¬ 
pending upon its design, its foliage and flowers, even upon 
architectural accessories at times; providing amusements 
which can be enjoyed by crowds and making the crowd a 
part of its design. “ Commons,” “ public gardens,” many of 
our so-called “ squares,” are of this type. Our “parkways” 
which serve as pleasure traffic connections for our large parks, 
have a local use in some cases like small parks. 

4— The playfield, for the active play of adults and young people 

over twelve, in games taking considerable space, like base¬ 
ball, football, tennis, track athletics, etc., under supervision. 

5— The boys’ outdoor gymnasium, or restricted playfield, for very 

intensive use by boys over twelve, with apparatus, such as 
parallel bars, ladders, etc., and a supervisor. 

6— The girls’ outdoor gymnasium, for intensive use by girls over 

twelve, with giant strides, swings, etc., and a supervisor. 


PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 


515 


7— The children’s playground, for boys and girls under twelve, 

with sandpits, baby hammocks, etc., and a woman teacher 
in charge. 

8— Special facilities depending upon local opportunities, such as 

swimming pools, wading pools, skating ponds, facilities for 
bathing in lake, river or ocean.” 

Necessity for a Plan 

Anyone familiar with conditions in Norfolk will realize how far 
below a proper balance of recreation provisions the city is at present. 
While the provision of “reservations,” which may be several thousand 
acres in extent, is not essential and will not be for many years unless 
the city grows much more rapidly than it is growing now, it should 
be considered in the preparation of a plan. When the city has reached 
a population of 200,000 or 300,000, which is within the pale of possibility, 
a reservation of large area along the shore or inland would be a great 
addition to the enjoyment of the majority of the population. 

A Large Park Should Be Acquired 

The acquisition of a large park should not be put off many years. 
This class of park should contain at least 300 acres and preferably 800 
or 900. The extensive shore line on Chesapeake Bay and the ocean 
almost surrounding the city should be taken advantage of in providing 
the large park. Unless a section of beach is secured in the near future 
the city may awake to find the entire shore in private hands, lined 
with bungalows, amusements resorts, etc., as has been the case in 
many coast cities. 

Development of Smaller Park Areas 

Three developed parks of the third class have been provided, 'file 
largest, Lafayette Park, contains one hundred acres and is a valuable 
property. Jackson Park is enjoyed by many, but Lee Park is still in 
a condition far from attractive. One or two other holdings of approxi¬ 
mately the size of Lafayette Park should be planned and acquired as 
soon as funds will permit. As mentioned in the classification, the 
parkways may furnish conditions similar to the “intown park. 1 he 
work along Mowbray Arch and the Hague is merely a beginning 
of what the park plan should provide in the way of parkways. The 
tidal streams which pierce the city at many points offer a unique and 
valuable advantage. Their banks, which are generally used as dumps, 
left in a neglected condition or gobbled up by business houses, provide 
the ideal location for parkways. Border drives on both sides of the 
streams should be laid out. Park space, left as wide as possible, would 
provide locations for playgrounds for the children and quiet rest for 
older persons, while the drives would open up new traffic ways. 
Experience in other cities shows that the increase in revenue derived 
from taxation, due to the rise in real estate values along the parkways, 
would pay, if not all. at least a large per cent of the cost of acquisition 
and improvement. No park system is complete unless the properties 
are tied together by parkways or boulevards. Norfolk’s opportunity 
to provide combined parks and parkways should not be neglected. The 


516 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


planning already done by the beautifying commission and the city 
engineer is to be commended and is deserving of much more considera¬ 
tion than it has received. 

Playgrounds, Fields, Etc 

Playfields have not as yet been provided except for tennis in 
Lafayette Park. The provision of playfields entirely separate from 
parks is not essential, in fact the combined playfield and park is more 
enjoyable for players and spectators. There is ample space in Lafay¬ 
ette Park for an athletic field. Others should be planned in connection 
with the new “ intown” parks suggested. 

Six outdoor gymnasia and children’s playgrounds on private 
grounds have been provided through the generosity of the owners. 
Two of these are for colored children exclusively. More of these 
grounds should be provided and should be owned by the city where 
possible. According to an ideal plan, a playground with a capacity 
equal to the attendance at each particular school would be located 
within each school district. The expense of acquisition and super¬ 
vision, however, would prohibit the furnishing of so many grounds 
immediately, but this ideal should be embodied in the recreation plan. 
One property should be acquired immediately. This is the Norfolk 
Academy ground. It is already used as a playground through the 
courtesy of the academy trustees and, being located in a congested 
section, is very valuable. Residents in the neighborhood testify to the 
noticeable absence of mischief among the boys as a result of the open¬ 
ing of this playground. This property is ideal for a neighborhood 
center. The old building may be remodeled as a community meeting 
place, providing also an indoor gymnasium and baths. The tract 
may be redesigned so as to provide lawn spaces under the many large 
trees where settees may be placed. 

No special facilities have been provided, although wading pools 
for the children and baths and swimming pools for young people 
and adults would be very beneficial to a city in Norfolk’s latitude. 

Provision for the Colored Population 

The two playgrounds and a section of Lafayette Park constitute 
the only provisions which have been made for recreation for the 
colored population. In any study of park development in a southern 
city the needs of the colored people must be given consideration. They 
need recreation even more than the better housed white population. 
The health of the community depends upon the health of each citizen, 
and it is a notable fact that the health factor of the negroes is much lower 
than that of the white residents. 

Recreation would materially assist in bettering health conditions. 
Moreover, crime among the negroes would be reduced if clean amuse¬ 
ments were provided. The good influence of the play leaders would 
be reflected among the whole colored population if sufficient attention 
were given to supervising the play of the colored children. If amuse¬ 
ments which the colored adults could enjoy were furnished, the number 
who now seek amusement in lawless and immoral ways would be 
reduced. In tabulating the ofifenses for which the arrests made amone - 


PROPOSED DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 


517 


the colored exceeded the white arrests during the first half of 1915, 
the following comparison is interesting: 


Offense 

White 

Colored 

Assault. 

. .. .190 

450 

Assault—felonious. 

... 13 

67 

Destroying property. 

... 15 

32 

Gambling. 

... 10 

48 

House-breaking. 

... 22 

89 

Murder. 

o 

11 

Selling liquor on Sunday. . 

... 5 

16 


1 respass. 

Most of these offenses among the negroes were probably the result of 
inferior living conditions, and the absence of opportunity for clean and 
healthful amusement. The city should experiment with amusements 
exclusively for the colored people, and it is believed that the effort 
would be fully justified. 

Care and Planting of Shade Trees 

In addition to the plan for recreational development, a plan should 
be prepared for the planting of street trees. The commission on beauti¬ 
fying the city has already done good work along this line, but it has 
been hampered by lack of funds. A map should be prepared showing 
all existing street trees and designating the varieties which may be 
planted in the future. A few streets have been uniformly planted 
already, but in the future a definite number of blocks should be planted 
each year and the plan gradually carried into effect. Property owners 
who wish to plant trees before the entire street or block is planted 
should be required to plant in accordance with the plan. 

City Plan 

While the board is to be provided primarily to acquire and develop 
adequate recreation facilities, it may well act as an advisory commis¬ 
sion upon the larger matter of a city plan. The need for a city plan 
exists in Norfolk. Most of the work along this line, which has been 
done recently, has been done by the commission on beautifying the 
city. Its efforts have resulted in securing some improvements in 
stream banks and the better laying out of some real estate plats, but 
these accomplishments are only beginnings. A general plan for all of 
the territory adjacent to the present city should be made as early as 
possible. This work may well be done in the office of the city 
engineer. The advantages of the permanency of the board of park 
commissioners may be extended to the city plan. Acting in an ad¬ 
visory capacity and in harmony with the city engineer because of his 
ex officio membership in the board, a strong influence towards the 
adoption of a comprehensive city plan may be expected. 

Financing Improvements 

The constitutional provisions against special assessments should 
be removed, if possible. While park improvements may be carried out 
by bond issues, it is often more expedient and equitable to assess benefits 
and damages against property affected by the improvement. Where 










518 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


this plan has been used it has operated very satisfactorily, and with 
a provision that benefits may be paid in ten annual installments the 
burden upon property has not been great. Special assessments of 
benefits for improvements which are spread over the entire area bene¬ 
fited in proportion to the actual benefit received are more equitable 
than a bond issue upon which the entire community pays interest. The 
property abutting upon a parkway, for example, rises in value on ac¬ 
count of the improvement and should contribute a portion of this 
increase to the cost of the improvement and acquisition which would 
be larger than the contribution which a piece of property situated 
a block or more from the parkway would be required to pay. 

In some cities where the city has become its own competitor, as 
it were, in the extension of a parkway, in that each purchase it made 
increased the value of the next piece, excess condemnation has been 
resorted to. By such a plan more ground than is needed may be ac¬ 
quired. When the improvement has been made and the value of the 
excess land for building sites has increased, it may be sold for a figure 
higher than its purchase price and the difference applied to the cost 
of the improvement. 

Maintenance charges should always be met by general taxation, 
however. The property after improvement is of almost equal benefit 
to the entire community and uniform assessment is therefore justified. 

Further discussion of the very important matter of special assess¬ 
ments is made in the report on public works functions. 


PARKS, PLAYGROUNDS, ETC. 


519 


Present Department of Parks, Commission 
on Beautifying the City, Playground 
Commission and Department of 
Cemeteries 





PARKS, PLAYGROUNDS, ETC. 


521 


PRESENT DEPARTMENT OF PARKS, COMMISSION ON BEAUTI¬ 
FYING THE CITY, PLAYGROUND COMMISSION, AND 
DEPARTMENT OF CEMETERIES 

Irrespective of the question of consolidation, there are numerous 
criticisms to be made of the inadequacy of the present facilities and 
of the operation and maintenance methods used by the existing organi¬ 
zation units. 

Parks 

An inspection of the parks reveals many examples of lack of 
expenditure of either effort or funds upon their upkeep. This is 
especially evident in Lafayette Park, the largest of the park proper¬ 
ties. The attention to small details, which are noticed first by visitors, 
has been lacking. The road borders have not been trimmed, grass is 
found growing in the walks and road, and the general atmosphere 
of cleanliness and neatness which is the mark of a well-kept park, is 
absent. At the time of this survey, the entire park had been allowed 
to grow up as a hay field. This unkempt condition resulted from the 
suggestion of the finance committee of the council that the park depart¬ 
ment grow its own hay in order to save an expenditure of about four 
hundred dollars per year for forage. The adoption of such a policy 
as this limits the real value of the park as a recreation spot, not only 
by reducing the space available for recreation, but by producing a 
condition which repels rather than invites attendance. It is especially 
to be criticised where adequate recreation space is so deficient as in 
Norfolk. 

Buildings in the park show lack of care. For example, the old farm 
house used as a shelter does not appear to have been painted for a 
long time, and the general conditions of the building and surroundings 
are poor. In the greenhouse the heating pipes are badly rusted and 
do not appear to have ever been painted. They have corroded so badly 
that at the present time it is necessary to replace a large per cent of 
them. The plant benches have also rusted and if not given attention 
will have to be entirely replaced. 

The zoological enclosures are poorly kept up. Some of the fences 
are merely makeshifts and are not only badly constructed but present 
a slipshod appearance which is very unattractive. 

In other parks similar conditions were noticed. In Lee Park the 
lawns have been given practically no care. This was partly due to 
the shifting subsoil condition which has prevented the maintenance o 
a level surface over a portion of the park. But the remainder is capable 
of being kept up in far better condition than at present. 

These examples are cited merely as illustrations of the general 
run-down condition of the park properties. While the small appropria¬ 
tion for park maintenance is generally blamed for the condition, an 
analysis of expenditures shows that an equal appropriation properly 
applied would place the parks in bettei condition. 


522 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


Gut all of the park employees are not engaged in maintenance 
work. An examination of the payroll shows the following provisions : 


3 Policemen.'• .$2,737.50 

2 Gardeners and policemen. 1,6-12.50 

1 Special policeman. 300.00 


Total.$4,680.00 


The “gardeners and policemen” are almost entirely engaged in 
guarding park property. The special policeman is a pensioner, who is 
seldom on duty. This amount cannot fairly be figured into the cost 
per acre of maintenance. It does not seem necessary to have special 
park police for such a small park area. By providing two police 
officers with a motorcycle, Lafayette Park could be guarded from six 
o’clock in the morning until twelve midnight. Jackson Park could be 
guarded during the day by the foreman in charge, and by assigning 
a policeman for the greater part of his tour to this park it could be 
adequately guarded in the evening. 

Another considerable item of expense is the park zoo. During 


the last year the expenditures were as follows: 

Feed for animals.$1,409.34 

Purchase of animals. 5.00 

Erecting fences. 293.54 

Salary of animal keeper (estimated) 730.00 
Labor (estimated). 500.00 


Total.$2,937.88 


This total is about 10 per cent, of the total expenditure for parks, 
which is out of proportion to the importance of a zoological exhibit. 

A zoo in a city whose appropriations for parks are as small as in 
Norfolk, does not seem to be warranted. A zoo is in reality a luxury. 
While most cities desire to have an attraction of this sort, in planning 
for their parks it should be the last activity provided for. In order 
to maintain the zoo properly large expenditures are necessary, and 
unless the zoo is well kept up, it becomes a nuisance instead of an 
attraction. Such is the case in the Norfolk zoo. The conditions of the 
pens or enclosures are very bad. In the section given over to the elk 
practically no grass is growing, and yet the elk is essentially a grazing 
animal. The new paddocks which have been built are entirely too 
small. It is not only placing an unwarranted hardship upon the animal, 
but most people do not enjoy seeing an animal in captivity in sur¬ 
roundings wholly unlike its natural environment. Unless ten or fifteen 
acres can be given over to wild grazing animals, they should not be 
kept in captivity, and this much space cannot be spared from the too 
small park area of the city. The conditions in the other enclosures 
are also very unsatisfactory. In view of the excessive cost of upkeep 
as compared with the total cost of park maintenance and the inability 
to keep it in decent condition with the funds available, it is recom¬ 
mended that the zoo be abolished. 













PARKS, PLAYGROUNDS, ETC. 


523 


Possibility of a Saving- 

These two items of expense, which are— 

Policing.$4,680.00 

Zoo. 2,937.88 


Total..$7,617.88 

amount to 26.7 per cent, of the total expenditure. If deducted from the 
total, the actual amount expended on maintenance is seen to be 
$20,890.22, or about $189.33 per acre actually maintained. 

The only other city activity in Norfolk comparable with park 
upkeep is the care of cemeteries. The problems of upkeep of both 
are almost identical, and the Norfolk cemeteries show careful attention 
to details of maintenance. The cost of maintenance is $33,465 per year 
or $231.59 per acre. The condition of the cemeteries shows the wisdom 
of additional expenditures for maintenance. The parks should be 
maintained at least as well as the cemeteries. They could be if the 
entire appropriation for parks were spent on actual maintenance. This 
would entail an additional expenditure equal to the salaries of regular 
police officers and the upkeep of the motorcycle, but this additional 
amount would be well spent if the parks were put in presentable condi¬ 
tion throughout. 

Further economies may be introduced. For example, a horse lawn 
mower should be used on the large lawn spaces at Lafayette Park. A 
horse mower will do the work of at least three men with hand mowers. 
A motor mower, the first cost of which is high, will mow nine times 
as much as a man. 

Commission on Beautifying the City 

Nurseries 

The nurseries should either be improved or discontinued. It is 
true that the city may grow stock cheaper than it can be purchased, 
but unless sufficient funds are available for proper care the stock ob¬ 
tained for planting is inferior. The nurseries at the time of this survey 
were in bad condition. They showed lack of cultivation, and many 
of the trees were so infested with borers as to be practically valueless. 
For the city to purchase large numbers of trees for the nurseries and 
then allow them to become diseased and infested with insects through 
inattention, is far from economy. Sufficient funds to care for the stock 
after purchase should be appropriated. 

No attempt should be made to grow stock from seed. The losses 
entailed, the transplantings necessary, and other care will force the 
cost almost as high as the commercial nurseries ask; but if stock from 
one-half inch to three-quarters of an inch in diameter is purchased, 
the nursery, if given careful attention, will show a marked economy, 
especially in Norfolk where labor rates are low. 

Care of Street Trees 

The work which has been done already on the street trees is to 
be commended. Considerable repairing of trees has been done in addi¬ 
tion to pruning and spraying. A power sprayer should be supplied 






524 


NORFOLK, VIRGINIA 


with the aid of which all street trees as well as park and cemetery 
trees may be cared for. 

When, through lack of funds, it is impossible to properly care 
for street trees, property owners should be allowed to employ private 
tree men to do necessary work. In no case, however, should trimmers 
operate without a license subject to immediate revocation when their 
work is not up to standard. 

Playground Commission 

The playground work in Norfolk is in its infancy at the present 
time, although quite a step in recreational progress was made when 
the first playgrounds were opened about two years ago. That this 
work has been successful is not to be doubted. The attendance has 
increased rapidly and parents, teachers and children are unanimous 
in commending the work. The sections surrounding the playgrounds 
have been improved greatly. There is a noticeable lack of mischief on 
the part of the boys, due to their interest in the supervised play and 
instruction which they receive on the municipal playgrounds. The 
expenditures made so far have been well warranted. 

There are many advantages in the city’s owning its own grounds. 
Due to private ownership the present grounds have suffererd from 
lack of toilet facilities and water service. It is unw'ise for the city to 
erect field houses of a permanent nature upon privately-owned grounds 
which are only loaned for city use. While field houses in Norfolk at 
the present time would be too expensive to warrant their construction, 
if the city continues to grow some will be needed and these should 
only be erected on city-owned property. 

Co-Operation With Education Department Possible 

One of the problems confronting the playground department in 
Norfolk at the present time is the securing of competent teachers. 
The season during which the playgrounds are open is very short as 
it is the vacation period, and it is difficult to secure instructors well 
trained in playground work for only a limited time. In the larger 
cities a great many of the playgrounds are open the entire year and 
a permanent position on these grounds is much more profitable than 
employment during the short season in Norfolk. It seems that by co¬ 
operation with the department of education some of the playground 
instructors could be employed in the schools during the winter months. 
Gymnastic instructors would be of much value in this way and those 
teachers who give instruction in manual training and games could 
also assist in these activities in the schools, and it is believed that 
an arrangement of this sort would be profitable, not only to the play¬ 
grounds, but to the schools. 

The grounds, especially those which will be located on city-owned 
property, should be kept open in the evening. A number of cities have 
found that by allowing the older boys and men to use the grounds in 
the early evening, they are kept out of mischief and that interest in 
the work of the playground department is stimulated. For example, 
in Buffalo playground baseball leagues have been formed and games 


PARKS, PLAYGROUNDS, ETC. 


525 


are played several evenings during the week. The attendance of these 
games is very large and the interest of the people throughout the entire 
neighborhood has been increased very much. 

Cemeteries 

Maintenance 

The condition of the cemeteries is especially good when the small 
appropriation is considered. Maintenance of cemetery lawns is high 
in the old cemeteries because of the practice of building mounds over 
graves. This prevents the use of horse lawn mowers and in many 
cases makes the use of a sickle and shears necessary. In Forest Lawn 
Cemetery the maintenance should be lower than in the old grounds, 
but a tendency to mound graves is noticeable even there. An ordi¬ 
nance should be passed prohibiting any mounds. 

Wherever large areas are to be mowed, horse lawn mowers should 
be purchased. On an area as large as Forest Lawn, particularly when 
the newer sections are opened, the use of a motor mower would be 
justified. It would perform the work of nine men with hand mowers 
or of three horse lawn mowers. This mower could be used on both 
park and cemetery lawns. 

Collection of Assessments 

The difficulty of collecting' assessments for lot cleaning, etc., 
places an extra expense upon the general fund. Assessments were made 
on Elmwood, Cedar Grove, and Magnolia Cemeteries in 1914-15 for 
$4,006.86. Of this amount only $2,126.63 was collected. Of the 2,919 
lots in the three cemeteries, collections were possible from only 606. 
It is unjust that the general public should stand the cost and an 
ordinance should be passed authorizing the placing of such charges 
upon the tax roll and making them collectible as back taxes, or the 
collection by recourse to the courts in case no property is owned by 
the debtor. 

Reorganization 

The proposed reorganization places the cemeteries under the 
board of park commissioners. The maintenance of all city lawns would 
then be under one head. The general office work would be done in 
the office of the board and only such books as are of necessity examined 
at the cemetery would be kept at the assistant superintendent’s offices. 

The title of superintendent of cemeteries should be changed to 
director of cemeteries and he should, as head of the bureau of ceme¬ 
teries, be responsible to the board of park commissioners for the loca¬ 
tion and preparation of graves and monuments, the keeping of cemetery 
plot books, and all work in the cemetery aside from the maintenance 
of lawns, structures and roads. 







CIVIL SERVICE 


527 


Civil Service 



CIVIL SERVICE 


529 


CIVIL SERVICE 

The advantage to a community of having its public employees 
selected under a system of competitive examinations has been "rec¬ 
ognized and adopted so generally throughout the country in recent 
years that no arguments for the adoption of the principle by Norfolk 
are deemed necessary in this report. Only the police and fire depart¬ 
ments are now subject to such provisions. 

A civil service system should be estblished for the entire city 
government. The charter provision or ordinance providing for it should 
be drawn carefully, and with full information of the best present-day 
practice—such for example as that in use in the city of Chicago. The 
administrative functions of the commission should include not only 
provision for the appointment of employees, but also adequate methods 
for promoting, demoting and discharging them on the basis of written 
records of their work efficiency. Work specifications should be drafted, 
the various employments of the city arranged logically in classes, and 
salary grades and rates fixed for each class. In short, the plan should 
include everything within the scope of what is now generally recognized 
as “salary standardization.” Thus there will be a real incentive to 
the citv employees of Norfolk to render effective service. Employees 
doing similar work, and doing it equally well will receive equal pay 
instead of differing rates of pay. The latter condition is not conducive 
to efficiency. By placing the positions of the various departments un¬ 
der civil service regulations, such as those here indicated, city employ¬ 
ment will offer to the young men and women of Norfolk a career instead 
of merely a job as it does at present. 







LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 





The H. B. Yesey Co., 
Printers, 
Norfolk, Va. 

















